More than half of workers sitting down for longer as they work from home

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More than half of workers are now sitting down for longer each day because they're working from home. That's according to a new study which has looked at how remote working is impacting people's lifestyles.

The survey, carried out by Ipsos MRBI, shows more than half of all workers in Ireland have been able to work from home since Covid-19 restrictions began. 53% of these people said they were sitting down for an average of two hours and 40 minutes more now than they did in the office.

Sean Campbell, MD of Dublin city's Back Shop, says this poses a real risk of injury:

"You have to have your screen height at a position that you're not looking down and if that doesn't happen, you will end up with a problem with your neck and reverted pain down your fingers", he explained.

With video meetings now the norm, The Irish Heart Foundation feels workers are increasingly tied to their laptops for hour after hour.

Foundation spokesperson Tara Curran is asking that employers make an effort to shorten meeting times:

"Instead of having an hour-long meeting, shorten their meeting to 50 minutes so that staff have a few minutes to get up, move about."

The Irish Heart Foundation is calling on people to take the Escape Your Chair challenge. It wants everyone to get up and move for a minute each hour as a way to kick-start their daily exercise.