'Pleasanteeism': Study finds most of us put on a brave face at work

Monday, February 14, 2022

"Pleasanteeism"- the pressure to show a brave face - is growing in the UK, with 72% of businesses, restaurants and leisure staff surveyed admitting to feeling that they must look courageous in front of their colleagues, no matter which way they actually feel.

A new study published today by Lime Global, the provider of affordable and barrier-free workplace health and wellbeing solutions, said convenience is 24 percentage points higher than ever from May 2021 as just over half (51%) said they suffer from this phenomenon.

It affects labour productivity as 54% of people had to take time off because they felt they didn't know what to do on their own.

The results of the survey indicated that more than half (54%) of workers decided to take some time off work because they felt they needed to show a courageous face.

On average, respondents take 2.75 days off a year due to Britain's stiff upper lip.

Distributed throughout the entire UK's labour force, this could add up to 67 million holiday days wasted annually as a result of amenities alone.