Last year it was 8.6 percent. That was already considerably higher than the national average of all municipalities (6.7 percent). The absence is in no other municipality as big as in the capital.
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In 2021, the absence among Amsterdam officials was still 6.4 percent. The absence of the Amsterdam officials often had a psychological cause in 2024. In 49.8 percent of the cases that was the reason.
Work pressure and stress
With long absence, work pressure, stress, private circumstances and physical disorders mainly play a role, says a spokesperson. The departments with the highest absence are those ‘intensive service to the city and its citizens’. According to the municipality, paving and polarization of society plays a part in the increased work pressure experienced.
The approach differs per department. Sometimes that is improving the workplace, in another case improving work pressure and working relationships. Since this year, there has also been more focus on balance between work and private life. For example, the municipality supports civil servants in quitting smoking and workshops to prevent sleeping problems.
‘Seriously sick’
Laurens Lochtenberg, party representative of the CDA, calls the latest figures shocking. “The municipality is seriously ill. It amounts to an increase of 52 percent in four years,” he says. Lochtenberg points out that for all organizations in the Netherlands the absence is 5.2 percent. “9.6 percent is almost double.”
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“To express it in figures: this leads to 164 million euros in absenteeism costs per year,” says Lochtenberg. That amount is more than half of what the municipality receives annually with the OZB.
‘Work climate apparently not good’
Action is necessary, according to Lochtenberg. In a committee meeting, the CDA will ask questions about the absence. Lochtenberg is curious about how many of the hundreds of officials a director visited. “Because that’s what it’s about. Sickness absence says something about the working climate and apparently that is not good.”
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Various recent studies provide insight into the working conditions at the municipality. For example, one of them showed that many of them experience discrimination or bullying behavior, often with managers the culprits.
Civil servants with a disability, illness or neurodivergency (for example, autism or ADHD) also encounter all kinds of obstacles. The town hall is very busy, with over -stimulation and concentration problems as a result.