Does the Sector of Employment Matter? A Study of Employee Absenteeism in Public, Nonprofit, and For-Profit Organizations

While public sector employees differ from private sector employees in important aspects, limited knowledge exists regarding what accounts for these differences. This study focuses on employee absenteeism, examining variations across public, nonprofit, and for-profit sectors. We argue that the differences are shaped by both sectoral conditions and employees’ selection into sectors. Using data from the U.S. Current Population Survey between 1994 and 2019, we find that absenteeism is the highest among public sector employees, followed by nonprofit and for-profit sector employees. By tracking individuals’ absenteeism after sector switching, we reveal that entering the for-profit sector is associated with decreased absenteeism, and employees with low absenteeism propensities are equally likely to enter and leave public and nonprofit sectors. These findings indicate that public and nonprofit sector managers could effectively reduce absenteeism by retaining low-absenteeism employees.