Hearing loss costs the Netherlands millions of euros annually, while hundreds of thousands of working people have to deal with the consequences. Daily reported.
Some 800,000 working-age people in the Netherlands live with mild to severe hearing impairment. Globally, the World Health Organization estimated the annual economic burden at nearly 1 biljoen Amerikaanse Dollar in 2026, driven largely by workplace absenteeism and diminished output.
“Every year that someone waits for a hearing aid is a year in which the damage – in absenteeism, productivity loss and premature outflow – piles up further,” Martijn van Veghel, Head of Audiology and specialist AC&KNO relations at Schoonenberg, told the ANP news agency.
Communication struggles force workers to expend excessive energy just to follow conversations. That continuous strain leads many to experience exhaustion long before their shifts end.
Early workplace struggles
Marisa Zijlstra discovered she had hearing loss at age 40, dealing with severe tinnitus and a 35-decibel loss in both ears. Working then as a yoga teacher and coach, she used hearing aids but finished each day physically depleted by the sheer effort of listening.
Erik Kemper became hard of hearing earlier this year due to a rare autoimmune disease. The 28-year-old previously assumed hearing loss only affected older adults, but he now relies on remote work flexibility to manage his energy levels.
Lars Schenk, a 22-year-old fast-food worker, spent a long time feeling confused and misunderstood by recurring fatigue before discovering the root cause. “I felt lazy,” Schenk told Ey! Daily. “How can such a young guy like me be so often, so tired, I wondered.”
Dutch laws require return-to-work plans for sick employees
Dutch legislation requires employers and employees to collaborate from the first week of sickness absence on a return-to-work plan. Occupational health experts evaluate whether workers can perform their original duties with workplace adjustments such as acoustic panels or visual signals.
Stan Deckers, an occupational physician in training, said that untreated hearing loss frequently triggers psychological complaints like fatigue and difficulty maintaining focus. When rest fails to restore energy, those symptoms are often misdiagnosed as burnout.
Long-term auditory deprivation also shrinks the auditory cortex and strains cognitive capacity. A meta-analysis published in JAMA Otolaryngology showed that individuals with hearing loss face a 47 percent higher risk of depression compared to normal-hearing peers.
Cochlear implants restore hearing for patients like Zijlstra
Surgical solutions like cochlear implants have helped patients regain auditory function when conventional hearing aids no longer suffice.
Zijlstra received her cochlear implant in 2022 after experiencing sudden single-sided deafness in 2013 and total hearing loss in her other ear in 2020. “I could understand my grandchildren again!” she said, Ey! Daily. reported.
She now works as a volunteer guide for MED-EL, helping others with non-medical questions about cochlear implants. “Do not resign yourself to it,” Zijlstra told Ey! Daily. “Go investigate!”
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