B’luru’s IT sector faces $3.5 bn annual productivity loss due to lifestyle factors: RedSeer

Employees in the age group of 30-40 years contribute the highest share i.e. 42% of total cost to IT sector due to productivity loss, as per the study.

Atom Information Technology

RedSeer Consulting, a research and advisory firm, has revealed in a study that health and lifestyle habits of employees result in productivity loss worth USD 3.5 billion (Rs 24,000 crore) to the IT sector in Bengaluru every year, which is around 7% of the IT sector’s total revenue (USD 50 billion) in the city.

The cost to IT sector due to productivity loss is attributed to five key risk factors: Physical Inactivity, Emotional & Mental Health, Physical Health, Poor Diet and Substance Abuse. Physical Inactivity and Emotional & Mental Health contribute to nearly 50% of the total cost due to productivity loss, while Physical Health, Poor Diet and Substance Abuse contribute to another 50% of the total cost due to productivity loss. “Physical Inactivity contributes to majority share of overall cost to IT industry resulting from productivity loss. We believe that there is an initial threshold among employees for physical activity and thus companies can partner with fitness players who can involve employees to reduce the threshold” says Ujjwal Chaudhry, Associate Director, RedSeer Consulting.

Employees in the age group of 30-40 years contribute the highest share i.e. 42% of total cost to IT sector due to productivity loss. However, employees in the age group of 30-40 years constitute 35% of the workforce in IT sector in Bengaluru, while employees in the age group of 20-30 years constitute 50% of the workforce and contribute to around 30% of the total cost due to productivity loss.

Also, employees in the age group of 30-40 years have higher share of loss due to physical health and employees in the age group of 20-30 years have higher share of loss due to poor diet.

“The biggest finding of the report is contribution of 'emotional and mental health' to the loss of productivity. We believe that companies should take initiatives to help employees reduce mental stress through specific programs which will reflect in higher productivity,” says Ujjwal Chaudhry, Associate Director, RedSeer Consulting.

The above-mentioned data has been captured via RedSeer’s Integrated Research Approach, which is based on 500+ employee surveys across 10 leading IT companies in Bengaluru and 20,000+ data points.