Revealed: The UK cities most likely to pull a sick day

New Data Uncovers Global Locations Where AI Employees Can Reduce Soaring Sick Leave Rates

Sick leave can plummet workers’ productivity and cause the output of businesses to decrease. With one million global searches made for “sick leave” and reports saying American companies lose $150 billion to employee sickness, the amount companies lose due to absences is staggering.

To identify the regions most impacted by employee sickness, Artisan—a company building digital workers who are immune to fatigue, illness, and burnout—analyzed search volumes for 20 sick leave-related terms across UK cities, US states, and countries worldwide.

Americans search ‘how to call in sick’ 53,280 times a year, making them the world’s most frequent users of sick leave

The US leads as the country with the highest rate of employee sick leave in the world, with Americans making 183,840 annual searches for sick-related terms, 4,400 monthly searches for “how to call in sick” and 1,900 for “what to say when calling in sick”. The UK follows behind with 126,240 searches made annually for sickness-related terms and 22,800 for “how to call in sick”. The data suggests both these locations are taking time off for reasons that extend beyond illness, and companies should review the honesty of employee time off.

Californians search “what to say when calling in sick” 4,680 times a year

California takes the crown as the US state with employees taking the most time off for sickness. With an average of 34,200 queries made annually for sick-related terms. 10,560 searches are for “how to call in sick,” and 4,680 for “what to say when calling in sick”. Texas ranks second with significantly fewer searches. However, people here search extensively for “what to say when calling in sick” (7,080 yearly) and “sick leave policy” (1,680 yearly),

In contrast, states like Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming show much lower sick leave-related searches (around 1,200 annually).

Outside of London, northern employees are most likely to call in sick of all UK cities

The UK city taking the crown for having the most sick employees is unsurprisingly London, with 27,360 searches made annually for the various sick-related terms. Northern cities follow, with Brummies making 4,400 annual searches for sick-related terms and Manchester making 3,000.

AI employees could be the solution to declining business productivity

AI employees, like the ones that Artisan builds, won’t call in sick, experience burnout, or struggle with heavy workloads. As these digital workers become more advanced—capable of automating everything a human can do in seconds—they represent an emerging solution to worker capacity challenges, ensuring businesses stay productive even amid rising employee absences.

Artisan has just launched an AI Sales Rep called Ava, who automates the entire workflow of a business development representative, from finding and researching leads to writing and sending outreach messages. She has been hired by over 300 companies.