Employees in mostly manual jobs take about 20 percent more sick days per year when their workplace becomes more digitalized. Office and knowledge workers show no comparable link, according to a study by ifo, IAB and the University of Konstanz.
The study compares employees in mostly manual jobs with those in mostly cognitive or office-type roles, using company and employee surveys plus social security records from 2011 to 2019. Both groups experience similarly strong changes from connected machines, sensors, big data applications, robotics or artificial intelligence. Only manual workers, however, show a measurable decline in self reported wellbeing, linked to about 20 percent more sick days per year.
Researchers point to technostress as an explanation: new digital demands weigh heaviest when workers lack the skills and experience to handle them. Since manual and lower qualified workers already face higher health burdens, digitalization risks widening existing inequalities further. For HR leaders, this means digital rollout projects in production settings need to be treated as a health issue, not only a technical one.
Targeted digital training and supportive leadership clearly soften the effect: trained employees show almost no health decline and no extra sick days. Higher wages, by contrast, do not offset the strain, the study finds. It remains open how companies can build training and support into digitalization projects from the start rather than adding them as an afterthought.
What this means for decision-makers
- Identify which manual job teams are or will be affected by new digital systems.
- Offer targeted digital training before rolling out new connected technology.
- Train managers to actively support staff through the transition.
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