An Industry Estimate Claims UK Employer Presenteeism Just Hit Its Highest Point Since Before the Pandemic

A 2025 write-up on small business trends claims that 37% of employers are seeing presenteeism at its worst since before the pandemic, though nobody says where that number actually came from, and this includes practices like yours who might be tempted to quote it anyway.

Page updated: 13 Aug 2026

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Practices dealing with burnt-out clients, or staff who won't take a proper day off, will recognise the shape of this claim even if the evidence behind it is a bit see-through.

Original Research	A report on the state of small businesses in Britain says employer-reported presenteeism has climbed to a post-pandemic high, affecting over a third of firms surveyed.
Source	https://www.enterpriseresearch.ac.uk/our-work/publications/
Overview	The page in question is a general publications listing from a small business research centre, not the actual report containing the figure.
Year	2025
Publisher	Academic, Enterprise Research Centre
Relevance to Wellbeing	Presenteeism sits close to the work practices in this sector already do, workplace stress, burnout and mental health support, even though the figure itself is about employers generally, not wellbeing businesses.
Our Verdict	Too early to tell the underlying claim carries no visible methodology, sample size or citation, so it should be treated as a talking point rather than a fact.
Our Summary	The topic itself, workplace presenteeism, is genuinely current and matches what many clients are describing in sessions. The 37% figure has no named survey, no sample size and no method attached to it anywhere on the page. The link supplied leads to a general listings page, not the report the figure supposedly comes from. The research centre behind it is a legitimate academic body, even if this particular claim wasn't properly sourced.
Our Geo View	Applies broadly to all countries, though the underlying survey (whatever it turns out to be) covers UK businesses only.

Abstract of wellbeing niches and revenue flow

Recognise how this might impact your practice

Why this might matter to you

Coaching: this matters because clients who won't stop working while unwell are exactly the ones who eventually cancel everything at once.
Therapy: this matters because presenteeism is often what burnout looks like before anyone calls it burnout.
Training: this matters because a workforce too tired to switch off rarely retains anything you teach them.
Alternative Healing: this matters because "I should be resting but I can't" is a sentence healers hear a lot, and apparently for good reason.
Clinical: this matters because presenteeism tends to show up later as the physical complaints clinics actually treat.
Retreat/Centre: this matters because people who never properly stop working are precisely who ends up booking a retreat, eventually, out of desperation.

Where this came from

A small business research centre published something called the State of Small Business Britain 2025, and somewhere in it, apparently, is a stat about presenteeism reaching a post-pandemic peak.

Enterprise Research Centre, 2025. The link available only reaches the publications index, not the report itself, so this is effectively secondary-sourced until someone finds the actual document.

Credibility flags: no methodology disclosed, sample size not disclosed, publisher type academic but the specific figure is unattributed on the page reviewed.

How we scored this

A relevance score out of 100, built from three things: how well it fits the six practice types, how recent it is, and how solid the methodology behind it is.

40%

Practice fit, 25How new, 100How solid, 0

Marked down heavily on how solid the method is, given the total absence of a cited source for the figure, though it keeps a decent score for how current the topic is.

It's worth considering changes to your marketing practices

What this means for your marketing

Don't quote the 37% figure as fact. Say "one industry report suggests" if you use it at all.
Talk about presenteeism as a pattern you see in your own client base instead, that's the bit nobody can dispute.
Brief your team not to repeat the stat as verified data if it comes up in conversation.
Put a line on your site about spotting the signs of working through illness, that ages well regardless of the stat's accuracy.
Hold off building a whole campaign around this number until someone finds the actual report.

Who this is most useful for

Practice type	Relevance	Recommended action
Coaching	Medium	Reference the theme of overwork, skip the specific number.
Therapy	Medium	Use it as a conversation starter, not a citation.
Training	Low	Mention only if discussing workplace wellbeing programmes generally.
Alternative Healing	Low	Avoid citing the figure directly.
Clinical	Medium	Frame around long-term effects of unaddressed burnout instead.
Retreat/Centre	Medium	Use the broader theme, not the number, in retreat marketing.

Best before

Best before: revisit once the actual Enterprise Research Centre report surfaces and the figure can be checked against its source, ideally before using it publicly again.