In the recently released 2025 State of Work-Life Wellness Report, based on 5,000 employees across nine countries, wellness was a key factor in helping employees keep mentally healthy.
"Our research underscores an unavoidable truth for HR and business leaders: work-related stress is the leading cause of declining mental health for employees across generations," said Cesar Carvalho, CEO of Wellhub, in a statement. "Ignoring this not only impacts individual wellbeing but also carries significant costs for businesses in lost productivity and turnover. Wellbeing is no longer a perk; it's a core business strategy. Leaders must prioritize holistic wellness support to build resilient, productive and engaged workforces."
The following are some findings.
Wellness benefits drive engagement and improve wellbeing, but access remains limited.
- Paid time off and health insurance top the charts in terms of benefits employees use the most, while stock options and wellbeing programs surpass traditional benefits like retirement plans and life nsurance.
- 79% of employees with access to wellness programs – such as therapy/counseling, flexible work arrangements, fitness programs, financial wellness tools/education, women’s health/reproductive support, childcare support – actively utilize them, demonstrating a strong demand for wellbeing benefits.
- Despite this demand, only 14% of employees have access to fitness support and a mere 11% have access to mindfulness and meditation resources.
Therapy and mindfulness are critical to Gen Z employees, not so much for Baby Boomers.
- Gen Z — the largest generation in the world — is most actively engaged in caring for their mental wellness. They are most likely to meditate with apps (26%), in classes (20%) or through self-guided sessions (20%).
- In addition, 50% of Gen Z respondents report they are in therapy, compared to 45% of millenials, 27% percent of Gen X and 24% of Baby Boomers.
- Three out of four workers not seeing a therapist would like to do so. Cost is the top barrier to therapy for Gen Z, Millenials and Gen X. This is in contrast to Baby Boomers, who cite lack of interest as the primary obstacle (39%) and who are seven times more likely than Gen Z to find therapy unimportant to their wellbeing. (23% vs. 3%)
Companies that offer wellness programs see significant improvements in employee wellbeing and engagement.
- 69% of employees with a wellbeing program say their overall wellbeing is good or thriving, compared to 53% of employees who do not have a wellbeing program.
- 59% of employees with a wellness program said their wellness improved in the last year, compared to 38% of employees who do not have a wellbeing program.
- 84% of employees with a wellness program said they are adequately compensated, compared to 61% of employees who do not have a wellbeing program.
- 79% of employees with a wellness program said their HR departments genuinely care about them, compared to 45% of employees who do not have a wellbeing program."