What the world kneads now

It was with eager anticipation that I waited for my son Noah to call me last week to hear about his first day on the job. He was walking to the subway when he called.

"How did it go?" I asked
"Great. I get 21 vacation days and we close down between Christmas and New Year's so I can come home without using any vacation days."

Perks matter. When you've just graduated from college and are used to about 20 weeks of vacation-- the most important perk is usually time off.

But, for the more seasoned employee, companies need to do more than offer days off that the employee doesn't feel they can take because there is too much work to do.That's where the massage chair comes in. Seems like corporations are tripping over themselves to offer employees a 10-15 minute soother. As promoted, at the Relax & Rejuvenate website corporate massages,

makes an ideal reward for your staff and a great  idea for employee appreciation week. Whether stress-relieving seated ; chair massage or time-saving manicures, bringing wellness to your ; employees will improve productivity, boost morale and reduce health ; care costs and turnover. The morale boosting effect extends to the ; entire office in seeing their co-workers rejuvenated!

Note to marketing department: you lost me at morale boosting effect. Call me selfish, small, and a terrible team player--but the only way my morale would be boosted is if I'm the one sitting in the massage chair.

Nevertheless Relax & Rejuvenate does list their  impressive corporate client list.

• Advisory Board Co.
  Verizon
  Patton, Boggs LLP
  Drexel University
  Timberland
  Emirates Airlines
  St Jude Medical
  Price Waterhouse Coopers
  Wachovia Securities
  Celera Genomics
  

On  theThe Dynamist blog,Virginia Postrel is previewing an excerpt of her first column for The Atlantic she's written for the July-August edition of the Atlantic. It's all about the trend in  massages including massage chairs at car washes, airports and yes within the workplace.

One of the most important factors in the spread of massages was theinvention of the portable massage chair. I tracked down the inventor David Palmer.... In 1982, he was running a San Francisco massage school and worried that not enough graduates were finding jobs. If massage was so great, why didn’t more people want it?

The answer was pretty obvious: everything about the experience scared off potential clients. “If you want to make sure massage didn’t make it into the mainstream,” Palmer says, “make it as expensive, inconvenient, and scary as possible. Force people to go into a private room behind closed doors, take off all their clothes with a stranger, lie down on a table, get slathered with oil for an hour, and pay $70, $80, $90 for the privilege.”

Massage needed a form that was cheap, quick, convenient, and fully clothed. Palmer developed an acupressure-based routine, or kata, that took just fifteen minutes and was done while the client sat on a drummer’s stool.

In March, Dr.Deborah Serani wrote a post about the benefits of massage. She is a psychologist specializing in trauma and depression. While the post has some good information and links to more information about massage therapy, the most interesting aspect of the post is that it has over 40 comments.

Sonnie Dee said...

My previous work place actually pays a professional masseuse to come in for two days every week. Everyone was allowed one free massage a month but often people got two or three.

My new work place offers similar but you pay $10 towards a half hour session work pays the rest.

obviously they have seen the benefits of having a relaxed staff. Now its just getting me to one, Im like fallen angels and can't do body work at all.

Not surprisingly, theBureau of Labor Statistics says the outlook for massage therapists is better than average.

Employment for massage therapists is expected to increase faster than average over the period from 2004 to 2014 as more people learn about the benefits of massage therapy. In States that regulate massage therapy, therapists who complete formal training programs and pass the national certification exam are likely to have very good job opportunities. Because referrals are a very important source of work for massage therapists, networking will increase the number of job opportunities. Joining a State or local chapter of a professional association can also help build strong contacts and further increase the likelihood of steady work.

Massage is an increasingly popular technique for relaxation and reduction of stress. As workplaces try to distinguish themselves as employee-friendly, providing professional in-office, seated massages for employees is becoming a popular on-the-job benefit.

So my only question is, what are the job titles of folks who go corporate?  Health &Wellness Leader? Corporate Stress reducer? Corporate Masseuse?

Image Credit: Flickr Member Tomswift46