Survey Says Most Employers To Maintain, Expand Well-Being Offerings Despite Headwinds

The vast majority of employers remain committed to investing in well-being for the coming year, despite challenges such as soaring health care costs, an uncertain global economy and other world events, according to Business Group on Health’s 2025 Employer Well-being Strategy Survey, whose findings were announced recently.

Against this challenging backdrop, 93% of employers reported plans to maintain or even expand well-being offerings for 2025, with 73% maintaining these programs and 20% increasing them.

At the same time, nearly all employers – 94% – will raise expectations of well-being vendors to deliver improved outcomes. They will also turn to well-being dashboards, a tool that tracks and measures relevant data, to help evaluate vendors, the Business Group survey found.

“Employers continue to regard well-being as central to their workforce strategy and seek to further optimize their well-being investments,” said Ellen Kelsay, president and CEO of Business Group on Health. “By viewing these initiatives as having a direct impact on overall employee health, employers also boost workplace engagement, participant outcomes and business performance, among other benefits.”

Fielded in January and February 2025, the survey was completed by 131 employers that collectively employ 11.2 million people worldwide. Participants represent a broad range of industries and employer sizes, and 60% of the respondents are multinational employers.

“The 2025 Employer Well-being Strategy Survey provides a treasure trove of data on both current and future well-being trends,” Kelsay added.

Other survey findings:

• One hundred percent of employers include mental health in their well-being strategy, according to the survey. In addition, 47% of employers consider mental health as the most important well-being dimension, while another 44% consider it to be the second most important. While employee assistance programs (EAPs) are the most commonly offered initiative worldwide, employers also promote stress management, mindfulness and resiliency. Globally, 95% of multinational employers provide teletherapy. 
• Physical health is a top well-being priority for employers, especially for weight management. Almost two-thirds of employers reported that the growing utilization of GLP-1s had impacted their approach to well-being, by making changes to their well-being offerings or increasing vendor accountability. Moreover, 99% percent of employers include physical health as a component of their overall well-being strategy. That commitment is on track to continue in 2026. 
• Financial health programs are nearly ubiquitous among employer strategies. Ninety-two percent of employers include financial health as a dimension of well-being strategy in 2025, with 100% of employers projected to include it for 2026. Some employers already support financial well-being through subsidies or financial contributions, to help with life events such as student loan repayment, tuition reimbursement and emergency savings. 
• Multinational employers continue to pursue consistency in benefits across countries of operations. Eighty-five percent of employers have a global consistency strategy or are actively developing a strategy for their well-being offerings. As they offer well-being programs, multinational employers must navigate different cultures, laws and regulations; challenges range from employees’ varying needs to insufficient local support. 
• Multinational employers also consistently offer access to nutritious food, physical activity challenges and well-being champion networks to global workforces. More than three quarters (77%) of employers leverage access to nutrition-focused resources to serve employees in their countries of operation. These well-being undertakings complement other well-being goals; for example, physical activity challenges often have a social component.
• Some three-quarters of employers’ well-being strategies include social connectedness and community, through initiatives such as employee resource groups (ERGs) and peer coaching or mentoring. Relative to other well-being areas, employers are less likely to view these as the top well-being dimensions, but data findings reveal growing consideration of these areas for 2026.  
• In the coming years, 59% of employers will expand their efforts in addressing social determinants of health (SDOH), the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, more so than any other area of well-being.