China firm offers weight loss bonus to staff using US$140,000 fund as ‘carrot’
- Shenzhen technology business launches slimming ‘boot camp’ for staff, ceates groups, and no cash payout if one member gains weight
A tech company in China has won plaudits on mainland social media for putting nearly one million yuan (US$140,000) into a fund to encourage its employees to lose weight.
The firm, Insta360, which is based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, in the country’s south, launched a slimming initiative at the beginning of last year.
Since then, 150 workers have taken part in the programme and have lost a total of 800kg. The combined cash bonus amounted to 980,000 yuan, mainland news outlet Jiupai News reported.
The initiative is like a weight-loss boot camp. The company designs each camp to be three months long, recruiting 30 workers each time. So far, five camps have been held, according to the report.
Since there were so many staff applying for the programme, the company prioritised the quota to those with obesity.
Members in each camp are divided into three groups, with two groups comprising 10 people each while the third has five people.