Trajectories of work productivity loss: Working from home and insights during COVID-19

Many people living with chronic conditions can have their health well managed and treated. However, if a health condition progresses or worsens, people may attend at work but cannot perform at full capacity (i.e., presenteeism), take sick leaves, or have to reduce routine work hours or even completely stop working. When people are older, they are more likely to suffer from one or more health conditions. Thus, work productivity loss due to health problems may be more substantial among middle-aged or older adults. People with health problems may start with low presenteeism, gradually increase presenteeism and then stop working especially if they are not well supported by workplaces and governments. However, few studies have examined how work productivity loss is changing over time and how presenteeism leads to future unemployment or retirement especially among an aging population. Meanwhile, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the transition to working from home (WFH), it is also important to consider the impact of COVID-19 and WFH on presenteeism. Based on the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging data, this study is to address the knowledge gaps and includes four specific objectives: 1) to examine how employment status changes over time among middle-aged or older workers and what factors are associated with the changes; 2) to measure how current presenteeism relates to employment status in the short-medium term within the context of COVID-19; 3) to measure how presenteeism changes over time among those who remain employed and examine the relationship between WFH during COVID-19 and this change; 4) to examine any sex and gender differences. The study will provide evidence to inform workplace and government supports to help maintain the work productivity of middle-aged or older workers and retain them in the workforce, and to inform whether WFH is an option for such a purpose.