Prevalence of Hearing Loss in the Workforce

Approximately 60% of the American workforce experiences some degree of hearing loss. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration believes hearing loss to be one of the growing issues in the workplace in the last 25 years.

Hearing loss is common among service men and women returning from combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, with about 60% of veterans reporting some degree of hearing loss and cases of tinnitus.

It is entirely possible that hearing loss is also more common in the workplace, but is just undiagnosed. On average, it takes a person seven years from the time they first begin to notice changes in their hearing until the time they decide to seek treatment for hearing loss.

Untreated hearing loss may lead to many negative outcomes in the workplace, affecting one’s ability to communicate properly with colleagues, interfering with one’s productivity, and ultimately affecting one’s income.

Consequences of Untreated Hearing Loss in the Workplace

A new report by Mark Ross in Hearing Loss Magazine outlines the obstacles in employment due to untreated hearing loss. “Most jobs in our society require some degree of interactive verbal communication,” he writes. “One must be able to communicate effectively with co-workers, the public, and most important, one’s supervisors. Any hindrance in that ability may interfere with the efficiency and accuracy of these communication exchanges and thus affect how well a job is performed. This, in turn may well influence the compensation that a person receives for the job he or she is doing. It can, for example, help determine how much people with a hearing loss are paid for a job or, indeed, whether they have a job at all.”

Communication

Hearing loss greatly affects communication because it interferes with speech recognition. Whether in our personal lives or in the workplace, communication is a key aspect in keeping us connected to the people around us. As you can imagine, the breakdown of communication in the workplace – no matter what industry or sector – will surely affect job performance.

At almost any level, from carrying out orders from your superior to being a manager communicating with staff, it is clear that communication is crucial to the success of the team.

The use of hearing aids improves speech recognition by allowing wearers to focus on speakers’ voices and also cancel out the background noise that is distracting

Productivity

Aside from properly receiving verbal communication and assignments, hearing loss has adverse effects on one’s cognitive abilities. Studies from Johns Hopkins have found that with untreated hearing loss, the brain tends to struggle to fill in the gaps left by unclear sound signals. This increases the brain’s cognitive load and thus drains energy from other areas. While in the long-term this has been found by researchers to potentially increase the risk of dementia, in the workplace workers may find it difficult to focus on the tasks at hand. Inevitably, this affects job performance – and as a direct result, compensation.

Compensation

Ross cites a study in which the workplace compensation of three groups was examined. The three test groups consisted of people with different hearing experiences: people who wore hearing aids; people with hearing loss who did not use hearing aids; and the control group, people with normal hearing. The study ensured a representative demographic sample from all areas of the country.

The study found that “as the hearing loss increases, so does the reduction in compensation.” For people with the most severe degrees of hearing loss, there as a $14,000 less earned income than groups with mild hearing loss. The study also compared salaries between the groups of people with hearing aids and people with hearing loss untreated with hearing aids. “What we have learned so far,” Ross says, “is that a hearing loss has economic consequences and that a hearing aid can ameliorate, but not completely overcome, these consequences.”

Treating Hearing Loss 

If you believe you, or a loved one, are experiencing hearing loss, it is important to seek a consultation and hearing evaluation as soon as possible. Untreated hearing loss comes with many consequences, which extend into your personal life as well as your professional one.

By identifying hearing loss and treating it with hearing aids, you will experience a change in your ability to communicate.

Contact us at Orange County Physicians’ Hearing Services to schedule an appointment today.