Unemployment is rising, and quite naturally, people are concerned about job security. But now there's news that more people are going in to work, even though they are not well, because they are worried about holding on to their jobs. Though they may have allayed their own fears, this is not a good a sign for workplace health, given that we expect to see a rise in swine flu in the winter.
A survey by Simplyhealth found that 43% of people haven't taken a sick day in the last 12 months, up from 36% in 2008. More than 50% of the 1031 people surveyed said they worked through their illness, and a fifth of them felt they had to go in to work to be believed about their being sick.
Staff in the leisure, retail and catering industries feel most under pressure, with 58% not having taken a day off last year. People in the financial sector seem less anxious, because only 24% of them didn't take a sick day off last year.
But a worker feeling under the weather is less productive, and smaller enterprises (SMEs) need to keep staff onside to weather the downturn.
In fact, another survey, this time by Close Invoice Finance, shows that SMEs know the value of keeping skilled staff, and more than two-thirds of these do not expect to make redundancies over the next 12 months.
About 15% of the 505 SME owner-managers surveyed said they expected their business to grow, but 20% remained worried about securing cash flow.
Perhaps they can take cheer from Lord Mandelson. Writing in the latest magazine for the Institute of Directors, he says, 'Getting finance to SMEs remains this government's top priority, their economic support will be crucial in helping Britain climb out of recession.'
According to Lord Mandelson, the 'government remains determined to ensure borrowers are treated fairly, especially in difficult times'. He also mentions several government schemes that are meant to help SMEs.
The Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG), will help companies 'on the margins of commercial lending. Since the EFG began in January, 6,410 businesses have been deemed eligible for EFG-backed loans, worth a potential £732m.'
The government has also extended the Trade Credit Insurance Top-Up Scheme, 'helping suppliers that have not been paid, in cases where insurers have reduced, but not completely withdrawn support'.
Then there's the Capital for Enterprise Fund, which has an equity of £75 million. It can give between £250,000 and £2 million to companies with a turnover of up to euro 50 million who have viable business models and growth potential and need of long term capital.
Do you think these measure will make a substantial difference to SMEs? Let us know what you think.
