Act 595: Effects of Exercise on Employee Productivity and Stress Levels

Hello, my name is Lina Chau and the research topic is the effects of exercise on employee productivity and stress levels

Frontier is a U.S. telephone company serving 28 states in small communities. The CEO and managers at the Allen, Texas location are concerned about employees: 80% of the jobs at the company are sedentary across the multiple departments including accounting, customer service, and sales.

In fact, more jobs in the U.S. have become sedentary due to the changing nature of the jobs and improvements in technology.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether a new onsite gym will result in more productive and less stressed employees.

Variables to be studied includes hours that employees are sedentary during the work day, how often employees utilize the onsite gym and fitness classes, productivity levels, and stress levels.

An abundance of research looks into the effects of sedentary jobs on employee health and wellness due to the increasing amount of jobs that do not require much physical activity- According to Church, less than 20% of U.S. private industry jobs require physical activity compared to almost half of the jobs during the 1960s.

This has been found to be correlated with the decrease in work-related energy expenditure and an increase in mean body weights for men and women.

Pronk, Katz, Lowry, and Payfer (2012) claim that sedentary jobs also increase the risk for employee obesity, metabolic syndrome, chronic disease, and premature mortality. Employee comfort, energy, focus, productivity, happiness, and stress are also affected.

According to Brophy, some companies subsidize gym memberships, have on-site fitness centers, or sponsor employee sports teams. The Human Resource Institute found that companies that offer these amenities have fewer absences, higher productivity, and lower health insurance costs.