Why employers should buy walking desks for workers

Researchers have quantified the impacts of treadmill desks on workplace productivity and the results show why it's better that the company buys walking stations for the entire office.

The researchers conducted a year-long controlled experiment with employees in a financial firm. On average they found that supervisor ratings of employee productivity increased 10 per cent (on a 1-10 scale) and energy expenditure per day shot up 70 calories.

This generally confirms other evidence on walking desks, including one that found that doctors are 10 per cent more accurate at diagnosing patients while on a walking workstation (actually, their diagnosis rate went from 88 per cent to near perfect, 99 per cent, while walking).

With any rudimentary back-of-the napkin calculations, outfitting the entire office with walking stations is a penny saver. As long as the new equipment satisfies this simple Productivity Increase + Healthcare Savings greater than Cost of Treadmill Per Employee equation, it makes perfect sense.

If the average employee is worth 50,000 dollars per year, treadmill desks add an extra 5,000 dollar worth of productivity. Indeed, if the actual productivity spike is anywhere near what other studies have found, it's likely worth more than the 1,400-dollar-price-tag.

Many workplaces offer hundreds of dollars in savings for employee wellness programs, which can save the business itself in insurance costs, sick days, and worker comp. Sick days alone are worth a few hundred dollars per day per employee.