How to make office spaces more inclusive to plus-sized talent

Employers have made significant progress on their efforts to tackle some of the more well-known diversity disparities in the office — such as race, gender and sexuality. But when it comes to issues like size inclusivity, they're often at a loss on where to start. 

In 2020, more than half of individuals classified as overweight by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention were active contributors to the workforce, according to CareerBuilder. But despite making up a significant portion of office populations across the country, a 2021 study co-authored by Puhl that surveyed 14,000 people across Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S., found that 58% of respondents experience weight stigma from their colleagues.

"In the current sphere we are in, people in larger bodies are less likely to be promoted or seen for advancement opportunities, less likely to get hired, and their pay is often less than their counterparts in straight-sized bodies," says Kara Richardson Whitely, extended sizing advocate, consultant and author of Gorge: My Journey Up Kilimanjaro at 300 Pounds. "So as it is, there's a tremendous amount of anti-fat bias or weight stigma that exists, making it difficult for someone in a larger body to feel seen and appreciated." 

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It may seem outrageous, but a recent study from the University of Connecticut found that employees who have a higher body weight face weight-based inequities in employment, including unfair hiring practices, lower wages, fewer promotions, harassment from co-workers, and unfair job termination. Data from the National Library of Medicine even found a correlation between plus-sized female employees and a decrease in pay — a one-unit increase in BMI is directly associated with a nearly 2% dock in hourly wages.

On top of dealing with those injustices, office spaces are very rarely equipped to be comfortable to their plus-sized workforce, only furthering the alienation larger-bodied employees may already be feeling. And unlike the systemic problems this demographic of workers face, all of which will require large, ongoing effort and perspective changes, the changes employers can make immediately to their office spaces only require a little bit of consideration, according to Whitely.

"The thing that I always go to first is the chairs," she says. "Let's say you're interviewing a candidate and all of your chairs have arms on them that are very, very narrow. They're immediately going to opt to stand." 

This highlights how something as simple as the furniture in a room can be critical in creating a space that is as welcoming and inclusive as possible. 

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"There's something about entering any space and immediately having to ask yourself: 'Is this for me, or is this not for me as a larger-bodied person?'" Whitely says. "There are other things that employers could do, too. Look at the artwork and the imagery that your company is putting out, either in recruiting materials or marketing materials. Even the artwork on the walls, what does that look like? And does it reflect back the majority of people who are coming to your offices?"

Jon Morgan, the CEO of consulting firm Venture Smarter, encourages employers to promote the conversation about size inclusivity with employees and incorporate their feedback into their workplace policies and practices.

"I believe that creating equitable workplaces means ensuring that all employees — regardless of their size — have access to the resources and benefits they need to feel comfortable and supported," Morgan says. "This includes comfortable furniture that accommodates employees of all sizes, and to achieve this goal, we need to take a proactive approach to understanding the unique challenges that plus-sized workers face in the workplace." 

HR departments also play a critical role in fostering safe and inclusive work environments, though their role extends past the physical aspects to the overall culture shift that will facilitate the conversations needed to make those kinds of investments possible. That is where people like Tamica Sears, executive coach and HR consultant, can step in.  

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"What I've found is that creating inclusive spaces for plus-sized workers is not really on employers' minds — it's not something that a lot of people think of when they think of inclusion or DEI," she says. "And our company works on a pretty broad definition of inclusion." 

Much of the time, people's idea of diversity is preconceived. When having internal conversations about creating more equitable spaces, they may only be considering certain characteristics that wouldn't have an impact on things like furniture or the physical appearance of an office space — and that's the first thing she tackles when working with a new company. 

"I just ask them, what is your definition of diversity?" she says. "And the conversation becomes how there should sometimes be more of a focus on the inclusion aspect. Don't just stop at diversity; ask yourself, who are you including?"

To help employers get to the bottom of that question, Whitely offers employees the opportunity to get audited by her company, to see how many of their practices are aligned with their goals. For example, if discussing how inclusive a company may be for their plus-sized workers, the audit will take into consideration things like furniture, artwork and entryways before giving them a ranking. The opportunity to keep themselves accountable is available, Whitley says. It just takes a little self awareness. 

"Because it's an audit, it's also an action plan," she says. "We leave the company with things they can do with their own team members to answer the question: 'How do we start having these conversations about body inclusivity and making sure that we're making the right moves so people are comfortable and safe in our workplace?'"