Abstract

Poor productivity, absenteeism and an adverse lifestyle are sometimes attributed to alienation of the labour force. The authors tested this hypothesis in a population of 534 non-unionized white-collar workers at the head office of two major life assurance companies in Toronto. Observations were made at both companies over an initial, pre-trial year, and during and following the introduction of an employee company. Relative to the control, the experimental subjects showed increases of aerobic power and flexibility, with a decrease of body fat over the course of the 6-month programme. Associated changes included (i a 22 decrease of absenteeism and (ii) a 16.2 decrease of employee turnover among regular participants in the fitness classes, with (i) a reduction of hospital usage and (ii) a decreased usage of medical services by all employees of the experimental company. A crude company measure of productivity suggested small gains at both experimental and control companies ( 2.7). Lifestyle was substantially improved in programme participants. Initially, worker satisfaction was high. Changes over the course of the study were few. This implies that an employee fitness programme reduces absenteeism independently of any more general effect upon worker satisfaction, although the response to the activity programme is smaller in those subjects showing a substantial change of job satisfaction. Our results do not support the hypothesis of substantial alienation in this type of employment. Verf.-Referat