Working for a living can make for weight gain, especially for females in the management ranks who are over 35 years old and for techies who typically spend their day sitting behind consoles and desktops.
A new survey reveals half of today's workers, 55 percent, view themselves as overweight with 39 percent reporting they've gained pounds at their current job. Of those reporting extra weight, 21 percent say it's more than 10 pounds and 9 percent say it's more than 20 pounds.
Just 16 percent claim to have lost weight at the job and 45 percent say their weight hasn't changed.
The statistics, from a new CareerBuilder survey, come at a time when Americans are getting much more health conscious due to the aging demographics of the country and as new tech wearables are providing new ways to track not only weight but everything from blood sugar levels to heart rate.
But what may be most startling about the survey is that 18 percent of employees believe managers and colleagues favor the workers who are thin and fit.
So who's gaining the most?
The survey says getting promoted is akin to gaining weight with 44 percent of those in leadership roles owning up to extra pounds once in the manager role. Also gaining more weight than others are older employees, with 40 percent of those ages 35 and up gaining pounds compared to 36 percent who are younger. The least likely are the 18 to 24 year olds.
When it comes to comparing the sexes, 46 percent of women report weight gains compared to 33 percent of male colleagues.
Those working in the IT department are leading everyone in the workplace as the industry itself has outpaced the national average in weight gain with a startling 50 percent reporting increased pounds. The next heaviest industries are government (48 percent), financial services (46 percent) and healthcare (42 percent).
A look at weight gain in U.S. regions
In terms of national regions, 44 percent of workers in the West report weight increase, with 40 percent in the Northeast, 37 percent in the South and 37 percent in the Midwest.
The survey offers up several tips to keep the scale number down.
"It's all too common in the modern office setting for people to send an email or instant message rather than get up and walk across the room. When you have the opportunity to stretch out your legs, take it!," states the report.
