Recent research from the University of Arizona, USA, suggests that workers who work in open-plan offices are more active and less stressed compared to the workers who have their desks in cubicles or separate offices.

The researchers of the study claim that they were the first who measured activity and stress in office workers instead of asking them with the help of questionnaires. Having analyzed the activity, the scientists concluded that workers in open-plan offices were 32% more physically active than those in private offices and 20% more active than those in cubicles.

Esther Sternberg, a study author and professor at University of Arizona College of Medicine, says: “We all know we should be increasing our activity but no matter how we try to encourage people to engage in healthy behavior, it doesn't work for long. So changing office design to encourage a healthy behavior is a passive way of getting people to be more active.”