Workers take a stand: Many now on their feet
Many offices have desks that allow you to stand, but the jury is out on its health value
At a bank headquarters in St. Paul, some workers keep an extra pair of sensible shoes at their workstations, just so they can more comfortably use their new sitto-stand desks.
In a nearby suburb, an entrepreneur said the extra expense with height-adjustable desks was worth it, especially when it comes to recruiting and retaining millennial workers — those born at or near the end of the millenium, 1980-2000. They range from 17 to 37 years of age.
One state worker said he’s such a fan of his new desk that he doesn’t even use his government-issued office chair.
“I think it’s a happier perspective when I’m standing,” said older worker Tim Hoeppner, 56.
Standing desks have emerged as the fastest growing employee benefit in U.S. workplaces, according to a June report from the Society for Human Resource Management. The group’s annual survey of HR professionals found that 44 per cent said their company this year is either providing or subsidizing the use of standing desks, up from 13 per cent in 2013.
It’s not known what share of office workers are using sit-to-stand desks. Peter Segar, chief executive of Ergotron, a Minnesotabased maker of adjustable furniture, puts the figure at about two per cent.
Even so, Segar said standing desks constitute the biggest change in office furniture since the dawn of the cubicle in the 1960s.
“Sit-to-stand really does change the way people work,” he said. “They’re more dynamic. They’re up-and-down. I think it’s easier to collaborate with people.”
Motorized desks that rise and fall with the push of a button are priced from $1,000 to $3,000, according to websites from some of the nation’s largest office furniture manufacturers. Michigan-based Steelcase said bulk discounts are available, and prices vary based on features. That’s also true of standard desks, which the company said generally start at $400.
Websites are teeming with less-expensive options for workers who want to alternate between sitting and standing. Online U.S. retailers charge $200 to $400 for full-size desks that move up and down via a hand crank, and a few hundred dollars more for powered desks.
There’s a growing number of devices that convert a regular desk into a sit-stand workstation. Earlier this year, 3M launched one such product called the Precision Standing Desk, which is similar to other devices in looking like a collapsible set of metal risers.
“If you go online now, you will see literally a dozen if not more companies dedicated to selling this type of office furniture,” said Dr. James Levine, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. “This has become, if you like, a booming industry.”
For years, Levine has cheered the growth of standing desks and other furniture technologies that help workers get up and move during the workday — everything from wiggling chairs to low-speed treadmills that are paired with standing desks. The point is to help people be less sedentary, he said, in hopes that movement can help people avoid chronic diseases associated with excess sitting.
The medical rationale for the standing desks took a hit in 2016. Researchers found that studies purporting to link health benefits with the furniture actually provide only “low quality evidence.”
Nico Pronk, a researcher with HealthPartners in the Twin Cities area, said the review raised valid questions, but also pointed to the need for better studies including research on the effect from reduced periods of prolonged sitting.
“That’s where that emerging evidence is starting to come in,” Pronk said.
When the forerunners to modern offices started spreading in the mid-19th century, writers routinely denounced the lack of vigour in office life compared with other lines of work, said Nikil Saval, author of the 2014 book “Cubed: The Secret History of the Workplace.”
While the cubicle is often held up as the symbol of office monotony, the designer who developed the idea did so as part of a vibrant vision called the Action Office. Sold in the 1960s by the Michigan manufacturer Herman Miller Inc., the original plan included a prototype for sit-stand desks.
“There was this recognition in ergonomic thinking of the 1960s that it was better for people to move around,” Saval said.
It didn’t happen. Cost was an issue, as well as the introduction of desktop computers that limited mobility. Now, the goal is closer to reality in places like St. Paul-based Sunrise Bank, where workers this year have gladly adapted their footwear to take advantage of standing desks that came with the move to a new headquarters.
When Irish Titan moved into new office space two years ago, the Twin Cities-area firm opted for standing desks in part because younger employees and potential hires have come to expect the furniture, said Darin Lynch, company founder.
“My industry, my employee demographic, is trending strongly that way, and so I wanted to be in front of that,” Lynch said.