Employment outcomes of people with Long Covid symptoms: community-based cohort study

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundEvidence on the long-term employment consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection is lacking. We used data from a large, community-based sample in the UK to estimate associations between Long Covid and subsequent employment outcomes.MethodsThis was an observational, longitudinal study using a pre-post design. We included survey participants from 3 February 2021 to 30 September 2022 when they were aged 16 to 64 years and not in full-time education. Using conditional logit modelling, we explored the time-varying relationship between Long Covid status ≥12 weeks after a first test-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection (reference: pre-infection) and labour market inactivity (neither working nor looking for work) or workplace absence lasting ≥4 weeks.ResultsOf 206,299 included participants (mean age 45 years, 54% female, 92% white), 15% were ever inactive in the labour market and 10% were ever long-term absent during follow-up. Compared with pre-infection, inactivity was higher in participants reporting Long Covid 30 to <40 weeks (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 1.45; 95% CI: 1.17 to 1.81) or 40 to <52 weeks (1.34; 1.05 to 1.72) post-infection. Combining with official statistics on Long Covid prevalence, our estimates translate to 27,000 (95% CI: 6,000 to 47,000) working-age adults in the UK being inactive because of Long Covid in July 2022.ConclusionsLong Covid is likely to have contributed to reduced levels of participation in the UK labour market, though it is unlikely to be the sole driver. Further research is required to quantify the contribution of other factors, such as indirect health effects of the pandemic.