Band 6+: Some employers offer their employees subsidized membership of gyms and sports clubs, believing that this will make their staff healthier and thus more effective at work. Other employers see no benefit in doing so. Consider the arguments from both aspects of this possible debate, and reach a conclusion.

The last few decades have witnessed a remarkable rise in obesity among office workers due to the increasing popularity of fast food and a lack of physical exercise. It is believed by some employers that providing discounts on gym memberships will be advantageous for their staff to remain fit, while others disagree with this point of view and are convinced that it will be waste of money. I firmly agree with the former notion.

To commence with, proponents of subsidised gym memberships for all employees argue that they will encourage employees to stay healthy for an extended period of time. In other words, office staff always spend their days sitting on a chair for indoor work; therefore, they often lack physical movements throughout the day, and company sponsered gym memberships will motivate them to be proactive in their work. For intance, in a multinational organization like Google, well-known worldwide for offering balanced lifestyles to its employees, staff often find themselves doing exercise in fitness centers inside their office premisses, demonstrating the effectiveness of regular workout by employees for the company’s well-being.

On the other hand, employers who believe subsidies on gym memberships will not be effective argue that in several organizations, staff are overwhealmed with their assigned tasks; hence, they always suffer from a lack of personal time. To epitomize, a developing country like India, well-known globally for its poor labour law system, failed to maintain a balance between personal and professional life for salary-based workers. Citizens of India often perform unpaid overtime for their employers due to the unemployement issues; however, these issues can be addressed with some strict worker laws by the government, and then discounted gym memberships will be helpful to all employees.

In conclusion, although in some developing countries subsidised membership of gyms are not useful for office staff, I believe the impact of discount on gym memberships will encourage individuals to stay fit and active in life.