The productivity of the work force affects Canada's competitiveness in today's global marketplace. Experts who recently reviewed the costs and benefits of an active society concluded that there is a fairly strong relationship between physical activity and short-term economic impact on productivity. They estimated a 4 to 25% increase in productivity for each employee who was physically active.

In the early eighties, M. Cox and colleagues investigated changes in absenteeism and turnover in a large Toronto-based insurance company that offered a fitness program. Comparing it to a similar company that did not offer a fitness program, they found that the company saved $273,000 in hiring and training costs and $88,000 in sick days — a savings of $267 per employee. They also concluded that as a result of a 22% in reduction in absenteeism among high program adherents and a 20% participation rate in classes, the company's potential savings were in the order of 1% of payroll.

A 1989 review by another Canadian researcher, Roy J. Shephard, showed that in most studies, reduced absenteeism was related to participation in fitness programs. In his 1992 review, 35 out of 39 studies showed significant decreases in absenteeism for those participants with higher fitness levels.

There is a wide range in the reported reductions in absenteeism as a result of physical activity programs at work. Decreases vary from a low of 0.4 to a high of 3.4 days of leave per year for program participants. However, even slight differences in days off work could result in significant savings across the entire workforce that is sedentary. Averaging across studies, Shephard calculated a decrease in absenteeism of 1.6 days, or 30%, per participant per year, resulting in savings of 1.1% of payroll costs.

"Absenteeism is a major problem for management, particularly in production-line tasks," wrote Shephard. He reported 5 work-loss days a year in non-unionized companies and 10 in unionized ones in 1992. He also observed that absenteeism seems to be clustered among a relatively small proportion of workers, with half of the absences being of brief duration and unrelated to illness.

Just as absenteeism is mainly attributable to 20% of employees, a large fraction of medical costs is attributable to a small proportion of workers. Persuading these employees to exercise may well have the greatest impact on productivity, absenteeism and medical care costs. Moreover, offering a convenient opportunity for employees to exercise may have the additional advantage of attracting healthier, more productive individuals.