I mostly give Alexander Technique lessons to programmers and managers from computer companies like Oracle, Perot Systems and Cisco Systems.
My clients are most interested in sitting at a desk and typing on a computer keyboard because they suffer from neck, shoulder, wrist or back pain.
This is similar to the interest of the clients at my Alexander Technique practice in Zurich whether they are in Banking, e.g., at UBS or Credit Suisse, in consulting, e.g., at McKinsey & Co. or Accenture, in insurance or health insurance, e.g., at Winterthur, Swiss Life, Zurich Financial Services, Helsana, or in education at the University Zürich or at the ETHZ.
The one common trait is being a professional computer user. The 'professional/job' difference, between my clients in Switzerland and in India, is the way programmers use computers. The ergonomic difference is how the offices are furnished in Zurich and in Bangalore.
Programmers rely more on the keyboard and have to type lots of abbreviations. I found that many Indian software engineers have a natural keyboard (which brings along its own set of problems). I haven't seen those very often in Europe.
The office set-up & furniture resembles what I have experienced in the USA. I guess this is because of the US based mother companies: mostly cubicles with non-height adjustable tables in L-shape, the computer in the rounded centre and a keyboard tray for typing. In Switzerland almost all offices I have seen are made of a height adjustable table without keyboard trays.
Interestingly enough both solutions are said to be ergonomic... I will discuss in a future blog entry how easy to use these two ergonomic solutions are.