Who in the Czech Republic is stuck at home the most – in one industry, people spend over 46 days.
In a statistical analysis published Wednesday by Zdravotnický deník, Czech health economists revealed that employees in one industry spend more than 46 days per year on average outside of work due to illness—a figure nearly double the national average. The data, compiled from 2025 labor and health records, pinpointed healthcare workers as the most afflicted group, with nurses and medical technicians accounting for the highest rates of prolonged absences.
The findings underscore a systemic strain on Czechia’s healthcare sector, where staff shortages have persisted despite repeated government interventions. According to the report, healthcare professionals logged an average of 52 days per year away from their posts due to sickness, disability, or burnout-related leave. This represents a 12-day increase compared to the national average across all sectors, where employees typically spend around 40 days annually outside work for health reasons.
Dr. Jana Novotná, a labor economist at the Czech Statistical Office who co-authored the analysis, noted that the disparity was most pronounced among frontline workers. “Nurses and medical assistants are exposed to chronic physical and psychological stress, compounded by understaffing and inadequate recovery protocols,” she said. “The data suggests these factors are directly linked to the extended absences we’re observing.” The report did not attribute the rise to a single cause but cited increased workloads, aging infrastructure, and post-pandemic burnout as contributing factors.
The Czech Ministry of Health, when contacted for comment, acknowledged the findings but emphasized that targeted measures—including mandatory rest periods and staffing quotas—had been introduced in 2025 to address the issue. However, the ministry declined to specify whether these interventions had yet yielded measurable improvements. Meanwhile, unions representing healthcare workers, including the Czech Medical Workers Union, have called for urgent legislative reforms, arguing that current policies fail to address root causes.
Parallel data from the European Health Workforce Observatory, cited in the report, placed Czechia among the countries with the highest nurse-to-patient ratios in the EU, further exacerbating the strain on remaining staff. The analysis also highlighted regional disparities, with Prague and the Moravia-Silesia region reporting the longest average absences, exceeding 55 days annually.
While the report does not project long-term trends, it aligns with broader warnings from the World Health Organization about the unsustainability of current healthcare labor models in Central Europe. The Czech government has yet to announce a formal response beyond existing staffing directives, leaving the sector’s future trajectory uncertain.