2 in 3 workers experience pain or discomfort from their workstation set-up.
That’s the conclusion of new 2025 research by Posturite’s partners Fellowes, conducted with over 6,000 Europe-wide office and homeworkers - including from the UK and Germany - from companies with more than five employees.
Depressing?
Yes, as professionals working in employee health and wellbeing, we probably thought that we were making good progress in helping people to understand the importance of ergonomics and healthy working habits in every work location, including home.
Yet the team at Fellowes now believe that employee understanding of workstation ergonomics is seriously lacking.
Incidences of back pain and other musculoskeletal conditions will never reduce in number if people don’t understand the steps they can take at work to help prevent them.
22% didn’t even know that their company has a duty of care towards their health and safety and must provide workstation risk assessments.
In this article, I’ll reveal the key findings from the new Fellowes research, including data suggesting a staggering number of businesses are failing to provide the correct ergonomic support to their team members.
What are musculoskeletal conditions?
The term ‘musculoskeletal conditions’ means health conditions and injuries that affect your joints, bones and muscles - and sometimes associated tissues such as your nerves. Pain, stiffness, and restricted mobility can be suffered as a result.
Physical pain, strain, or discomfort when sitting at your workstation
In the new Fellowes research results, 67% of respondents had experienced pain or discomfort that they said was due to their workstation setup. The next question asked about the kind of discomfort experienced:
- Back pain = 53%
- Strained eyes = 43%
- Sore / stiff neck = 42%
- Sore / stiff back = 39%
- Headaches = 35%
- Sore arms / legs = 21%
- Sore / stiff wrist = 20%
In terms of musculoskeletal issues, note in particular the back, neck, and wrist complaints here.
What do you believe caused that work-related pain?
- Bad posture when sitting at my desk = 55%
- Uncomfortable chairs or desks which I can’t adjust to make them comfortable = 43%
- Brightness from my computer or laptop screen = 27%
- Not being able to adjust my screen/s to be placed at a different height / distance away from me = 24%
- Not using a separate keyboard for my computer or laptop sometimes / all the time = 14%
- Not using a mouse, or a mouse that isn’t comfortable for me = 14%
- Other non-work related health problems = 14%
Interesting. Below are useful ergonomic tips and solutions to share with your employees on these themes, to help resolve the problems and fill the knowledge gaps.
Ergonomic tips and solutions
- Art of sitting posture tips
- Comfortable ergonomic office chairs and tips on how to adjust ergonomic chairs
- Step-by-step guide to an ergonomic monitor setup
- Tips on looking after your eyes at work
- Using a separate keyboard for healthy ergonomic laptop use
- The ultimate guide to computer mouse ergonomics
- Explore options for height-adjustable desks
Note that ‘bad posture’ was the top result of blame for pain and discomfort. It’s free of charge to resolve this! Watch the Posturite webinar Easy, comfy, canny: posture tips for comfort at your desk.
More ‘don’t cost a penny’ workplace health solutions are recommended in The 5 best free things you can do for your back.
Do you understand the term ‘ergonomics’?
By the way, a lack of understanding about what ‘ergonomic’ means was clearly shown by this study. 43% of respondents selected the wrong definition of ‘ergonomic’ or said they didn’t know what it meant.
An ergonomic product should be a good fit for the task you want to do, for you as an individual and for the environment where you want to do your task.
Ergonomic design aims to improve health and safety at work - and also improve:
- Performance
- Satisfaction
- Comfort
Whereas poor ergonomics can quickly lead to discomfort, reduced productivity, and even long-term health issues.
An ordinary kitchen chair with no adjustments would not be ergonomic equipment for your task of working at a computer for several hours. Using your kitchen chair would quickly lead to discomfort, because it would not support a suitable working position.
Home vs office: discomfort and pain at workstations
I was fascinated to compare the differences and similarities of results in this survey between those working from home and those in the office.
Unsurprisingly, back pain was the top kind of pain for both WFH and office.
The reports of sore and stiff neck, strained eyes, sore wrists and arms and legs were very similar in number when homeworking as for the office location in the survey results, with headaches just a little lower for the homeworkers.
Research participants identified similar causes for their working discomfort, with ‘bad posture’ coming top again with 55%. But 10% more people blamed ‘Uncomfortable chairs or desks’ for discomfort at home than at the office.
However, an actual ‘workstation’ doesn’t exist still for a worrying number of homeworkers!
37% don’t work at a designated working desk when they work from home.
Even 5 full years after the increase in working from home due to the pandemic. In the Posturite Roadshow event, Adele Redhead from Fellowes shared her frustration that:
- 22% said they worked at any available work surface
- 15% said they worked from the sofa
There were audible gasps around the room of Posturite guests and clients when this was presented…
Listen, it can be OK to work from different places in your home for certain tasks and for short periods! You could take an audio phone call from your sofa, you could read a printed document from your sofa occasionally. You can brainstorm while you pace around the kitchen or garden. But for inputting Display Screen Equipment work, i.e. computer work, you should be using an ergonomic workstation for home if you work from home. You should also be given the training on how to adjust it and make it comfortable for you personally.
The article Do employees working from home need a DSE risk assessment? gives you more guidance on safe homeworking.
Sick leave due to pain and discomfort
36% said they had taken days off from work due to pain or discomfort caused by ‘sitting at their workstation’ in the past.
Of those who said this, on average these employees said they took off 14 days from work in 2024 due to the pain or discomfort.
This is a considerable number and employers are understandably very concerned about absenteeism. In a 2025 survey conducted by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and reported in People Management:
- 40% of employers plan to enhance training and guidance on workplace health and safety.
- 37% plan to provide better education on general health and wellbeing.
For everyone interested in healthy working, check out the latest research on The benefits of using standing desks aka sit-stand desks.
And for staff wellbeing, these resources should come in useful:
- Top health benefits of walking breaks at work: free poster
- Active working myths, legends and truths: an infographic
Who to report working discomfort issues to?
The Fellowes research found that 1 in 10 employees wouldn’t know who to speak to regarding pain or discomfort they were experiencing whilst working.
Consequently, make it clear to all staff who is available to help with this. Not everyone has access to a Health and Safety ‘team’ of course at work, so line managers and HR teams are often responsible for this aspect of employee care.
Sadly only 25% of employees thought their employer was getting the basics right when it comes to desk work and the health and wellbeing of their employees.
How quickly does ergonomic equipment make a difference?
39% of those who used ergonomic equipment said they noticed a positive difference with their pain or discomfort almost immediately or within a few days.
Investment in ergonomic chairs as well as smaller low-cost items such as laptop stands, mini keyboards and ergonomic mice will be hugely appreciated by your staff to help prevent and mitigate problems including MSDs (musculoskeletal disorders).
Frequency and helpfulness of workstation risk assessments
- A significant 23% said their workplace had never carried out workstation risk assessments.
- 50% said that their organisation carried out workstation risk assessments only on occasions or a long time ago.
Additionally:
- 43% said that their workplace found problems during the assessment but only addressed some of them.
- 15% said they addressed none of the problems.
It’s certainly challenging but not impossible to manage an efficient and helpful workstation risk assessment process for staff, and the Managed Service team at Posturite can take care of it if you wish. They offer implementation, rollout, user management, triage calls, assessments, and audit trails to organisations in the private, public and voluntary sectors.
It’s worth noting also that perhaps some of the surveyed employees did have workstation risk assessments, but they were simply called something different. Or in their busy work lives, staff might have quickly carried out the DSE self-assessment and forgotten all about it.
The cost of poor workstation ergonomics
I’ll end with a stat which will surely find a way into the annual presentation by every health and safety manager in Europe:
The Yearly Cost of Poor Workstation Ergonomics for European Businesses is €2,000 Per Employee
This productivity loss calculation in the Fellowes White Paper The Workplace Ergonomic Revolution is based on:
- The current average EU annual salary being around €37,000.
- Their insight that an average of 14 working days is being lost per employee due to workstation-related discomfort and injuries.
We cannot therefore afford poor workstation ergonomics.
Effective workstation ergonomics is the way forward, for our musculoskeletal health and for our overall health and happiness.
Read next: The employer’s guide to reducing back pain in the workplace
Watch next: Homeworker special: good ergonomic kit 'show and tell'
