A critical analysis of work-site fitness programs and their postulated economic benefits

Many early work-site exercise programs had a unique fitness focus. More recently, modular programs have addressed many facets of lifestyle. Their stated objective has often been to boost corporate morale or employee health rather than to have direct economic benefits, and evaluation has frequently been in terms of process rather than a cost-benefit or a cost-effectiveness analysis. Nevertheless, a growing number of authors have claimed fiscal dividends from such programs. A full economic evaluation must consider such issues as the transfer of benefits between various sectors of the economy, opportunity costs to participants, marginal costs and benefits, inflation, discounting, and the choice between cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analyses. Suggested benefits include an improvement of corporate image, a decrease of employee turnover, gains of productivity, reduced absenteeism and medical costs, an improved employee lifestyle, and a decrease of industrial injuries. In practice, the corporate impact of a program is greatly attenuated, depending on prevalence of need, participation rate, program response of recruits, and continued employment of such individuals within a company. Costs to the corporation include promotion, facilities, equipment, and professional leadership. However, such items are often small relative to the opportunity costs incurred by the participant. For this reason, activities that can be built into the normal day of the employee (for example, walking or cycling to and from work) may prove more acceptable and more cost-effective than formal work-site classes.