When your people are in pain, their performance suffers.  

When performance suffers, your bottom line suffers.  

Presenteeism, Absenteeism, and Burnout 

In Part 1 (link) of this series, we looked at Michelle, an HR coordinator. When Michelle was in pain, her performance at work was hindered. She was distracted, distressed, and eventually burnt out. 

Scenarios like Michelle’s are all too common. But they don’t just impact the employee- they impact your business.  

Presenteeism, absenteeism, and burnout are growing problems in the workforce today. If we look at Michelle’s story, she experienced all three:  

Presenteeism 

Presenteeism happens when employees show up to work physically but aren’t able to perform at their best. With bone, muscle, and joint pain (MSDs), this is especially common—back pain, shoulder impingement, or chronic joint discomfort can make even simple tasks difficult. Instead of focusing on the work in front of them, employees are distracted by constant pain, moving slower, or compensating in ways that can create errors and even safety risks. What’s worse, many employees feel pressure to “push through” pain because of workplace culture, fear of being seen as unreliable, or the weight of high demands. The result: productivity drops and the risk of mistakes or injuries rises, all while the root problem goes unaddressed. 

Absenteeism 

When pain finally becomes too much to bear, employees often resort to time away from work. MSDs are among the leading causes of lost workdays, and when employees are absent, projects stall, teams scramble to cover workloads, and overall efficiency declines. For organizations, the cost isn’t just in missed hours but also in the ripple effect—delayed timelines, uneven staffing, and added strain on coworkers. Repeated or prolonged absenteeism often signals deeper issues within the workplace, whether it’s untreated health problems or an environment that doesn’t adequately support employees’ physical well-being. 

 Burnout 

 Unchecked pain doesn’t just affect the body—it wears down the mind. Burnout is the inevitable outcome of stress combined with pain. For employees with MSDs, the constant cycle of pushing through discomfort, falling behind, and feeling unable to keep up erodes motivation and engagement. Burnout often shows up as cynicism, detachment, and an overall decline in performance. It also feeds back into both presenteeism and absenteeism: employees may continue showing up but disengaged, or they may step away entirely. Over time, burnout contributes to higher turnover, long-term health consequences, and a weakening of organizational culture. 

The Bottom Line 

Presenteeism, absenteeism, and burnout all result in lost time, lost morale, and lost productivity. Productivity losses linked to absenteeism and presenteeism from chronic illnesses and injuries cost U.S. employers $2,945 per employee per year.   

These are big problems- but just another wellness benefit is not going to cut it. Your employees need to know that you, as their employer, are engaged in their well-being. The best way to do this? Take bone, muscle, and joint pain seriously and do everything you can to catch pain before it becomes a problem.  

How Solveglobal Solves Performance 

About 50% of your employees are in pain right now. So, what do you do? 

Solveglobal helps solve your pain problem, which helps improve performance. By offering accessible care to your employees, Solveglobal member therapists are able to catch MSDs early- preventing the slippery slope of presenteeism, absenteeism, and burnout. 

Solveglobal could rewrite Michelle’s story. Instead of her living in pain, becoming distracted at work, taking time off, and eventually becoming distressed and burnt out, her neck and shoulder pain could have been reported at once. Instead of working through the pain, a Solveglobal member therapist could assess her workplace ergonomics, her movement patterns, and more to see what the root cause of her pain was. This way, the root cause can be fixed quickly, resolving pain and performance issues down the line. 

Rewrite your employees’ pain stories with Solveglobal.