BMC public healthMar 21, 2025

A manager’s view on lowering employees’ sitting time while working from home

Circadian Biology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗OA ↗

Updated Apr 1, 2026

Abstract

Interviews with 20 managers revealed that organisational support is essential for reducing among employees working from home.

Managers identified organisational support and leadership as critical factors in encouraging employees to engage in .
The involvement of management in physical activity during work was viewed as influential in promoting employee engagement.
Creating opportunities for physical activity during work hours was considered a key element in reducing sedentary time.
Infrastructure established during the Covid-19 pandemic may be effectively leveraged to provide education and encouragement to employees.
Concerns were expressed about potential negative impacts on performance when reducing sedentary time, although increased employee well-being was seen as a long-term benefit.

Simplified

BACKGROUND: Office workers have the highest estimated daily (ST). The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a switch from office-based work to home-office work or a hybrid of both. Home-office work has been shown to increase ST compared to the office, which may have deleterious health consequences.

OBJECTIVE: This study explored managers perspectives on the factors influencing their employee's ability to reduce ST in a home-office context.

DESIGN: A descriptive qualitative study.

METHODS: Semi-structured interviews (n = 20), which were mapped to the , were conducted with managers from Ireland, Spain and The Netherlands. Interviews were conducted through Zoom, recorded and transcribed verbatim. A reflexive thematic analysis approach was used.

RESULTS: Organisational support, management engaging in (PA) during work and a social element were seen as key to increasing engagement in interventions. Creating opportunities for employees to engage in PA during work was seen as another key element. Leveraging infrastructure put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic was identified as a feasible approach to providing education and encouragement to employees. Lastly, managers feared the impact reducing ST may have on the performance of both employees and the organisation, yet, managers felt an increase in employee well-being would benefit their company long-term.

CONCLUSION: These results highlight the need to include organisational support and leadership from management, ensuring a top-down approach. These changes may create opportunities for employees to reduce their ST while working from home, which may benefit both the employees' and organisations.

Key numbers

55% male

Participant Gender Distribution

Of the 20 managers interviewed, 11 were male.

45% aged 36–45 years

Participant Age Range

Nine out of twenty managers fell within this age range.

20 managers

Total Managers Interviewed

Interviews conducted with managers from Ireland, Spain, and The Netherlands.

Full Text

We can’t show the full text here under this license.

View Full Text ↗

Funding

Competing interests

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Ethical approval for this study was granted by the Research Ethics Committee of the Spanish (250/2023) and Irish University (20221022). All participants were provided with an information sheet and subsequently signed an informed consent form. This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could influence the work reported in this article.

PubMed

A manager’s view on lowering employees’ sitting time while working from home

Abstract

Key numbers

Full Text

Funding

Competing interests

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

What Lands in Your Inbox Each Week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief

Abstract

Key numbers

Full Text

Funding

Competing interests

Related papers

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

What Lands in Your Inbox Each Week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief