IT workers chained to their desks

A third of IT staff spend more than eight hours per day at their desks, supporting fears that a largely sedentary workforce in the technology industry could be susceptible to health problems such as deep vein thrombosis.

More than 40 per cent of respondents are actually sat at their desks for around seven or eight hours per day, according to findings from a silicon.com poll. Almost a quarter (23 per cent) spend nine or 10 hours at their desks, while 10 per cent are sat down for more than 10 hours each day.

Last week thrombosis charity Lifeblood warned that IT is a high-risk occupation for health problems relating to inactivity.

At the other end of the sedentary scale, four per cent of respondents said they spend less than four hours each day sat at their desks.

Increasingly workers are taking fewer breaks during the day. Fewer staff now take lunch breaks and many only leave their desk to go to the toilet. Separate research released last year found that 50 per cent of staff in Europe only get up to go to the toilet and grab some food.

Will Sturgeon of Silicon.com reported from London.