In an effort to motivate employees to maintain healthier lifestyles, a handful of companies are experimenting with providing Apple Watches for only $25.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Vitality Group, a health-services firm, is launching the program this year at a handful of companies, including Amgen Inc., DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. and ad insurance firm Lockton Cos.
The idea is to leverage the various health tracking features on the Apple Watch to motivate workers to move more and be healthier. In which case, hopefully they will have fewer health problems and the company saves money on insurance premiums.
Getting an Apple Watch, which can cost $350 or more, for only $25 is both a carrot and a stick. Employees get a great deal, obviously. However, the employees have to meet certain health goals over a two-year period. If they don’t, then they have to reimburse the company the full price of the watch, according to the WSJ.
The story notes that Fitbit has a broad range of corporate partnerships to provide its fitness trackers for similar programs. It’s unclear whether Apple is officially involved in this particular program, however, it’s certainly an interesting opportunity for the company which in general is trying to expand its appeal to enterprise customers.
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