'Sitting is the new cancer': Apple gives all staff in its new office standing desks

Apple chief executive Tim Cook has said that all employees working at the company’s new Apple Park headquarters have been given standing desks.

Cook said in an interview with Bloomberg that “we have given all of our employees, 100%, standing desks. If you can stand for a while, then sit, and so on and so forth, it’s much better for your lifestyle.”

In 2015, Cook explained why the Apple Watch has a feature which encourages people to stand up.

“If I sit for too long, it will actually tap me on the wrist to remind me to get up and move,” Cook said, “because a lot of doctors think sitting is the new cancer.”

Cook typically wakes up at 3.45am, and has spoken before about his healthy lifestyle. He’s keen to encourage Apple employees and customers to follow his lead.

The Apple Watch was released in 2015 and included a series of health features designed to encourage wearers to exercise more. Along with reminders to regularly stand up, the device also includes fitness goals and support for exercise tracking.

Apple’s new Apple Park office complex in Cupertino, California was opened in 2017 to employees, but construction work is still being carried out. The company plans to eventually host 12,000 employees in the building.