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Methodology:

The survey on which these findings are based was carried out between 24th April and 12th May 2025 and received over 3,600 responses. The survey was completed by employers and employees from across the UK, working across a range of industry sectors and employed in various types and sizes of organisation in both the private and public sectors.

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Three people sitting at an outdoor table, enjoying food and drinks while engaged in conversation. Surrounded by greenery with a blurred natural background, suggesting a casual dining or social gathering setting.

Importance of wellbeing

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The impact of positive employee wellbeing is far-ranging, and a win-win for both professionals and organisations. Whether it’s fostering more resilient and productive workforces, or attracting and retaining skilled professionals, employers can’t afford to overlook the wellbeing of their workforce.

Wellbeing implications widely recognised

Beyond the ethical motivation, employers who implement purposeful and informed wellbeing initiatives will build a more resilient, productive and loyal workforce. Both employers and employees clearly realise this; nearly all employers (97%) believe that positive wellbeing is important to their organisation’s overall success, as do employees (95%).

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of employers believe that positive wellbeing is important to their organisation’s overall success

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Engagement and retention

An organisation’s commitment towards wellbeing is an important consideration when looking to engage staff and retain their skills.

Less than a third of employers (30%) say their hiring managers discuss employee wellbeing approaches during the recruitment process. However, talent attraction is only one side of the coin, with engagement and retention emerging as key concerns: 39% of professionals say they have left a role due to inadequate wellbeing support, while a third (34%) have considered it. Women (42%) are more likely to say they have left a role due to a lack of wellbeing support then men (35%).

Negative impacts of poor employee wellbeing

When asked how poor employee wellbeing is negatively affecting their organisation, nearly half of employers (49%) acknowledged lower employee morale, with 39% citing absenteeism. In the public sector, absenteeism is seen to be an even larger consequence of poor employee wellbeing (46%).

More than one in eight (15%) professionals say that they took time off last year due to stress or a stress-related illness, while 21% of employers believe this is often the case.

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of professionals say they have left a role due to inadequate wellbeing support, and 34% have considered it

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Financial concerns

When focusing on employees’ financial wellbeing, employers believe that negativity in this area is causing lowered engagement (62%), higher employee turnover (51%) and more distracted staff leading to lowered productivity (42%).

Additionally, 59% of employees say that financial concerns would impact their willingness to return to the office more frequently if asked to do so, jumping to 73% for those aged 29 and under. However, for employers aged 50 and over, the majority (52%) believe financial concerns wouldn’t influence their decision to return to the office on a more regular basis.

Impact of negative financial wellbeing

Lowered engagement

62

Higher turnover

51

More distracted staff leading to lowered productivity

42

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Who’s responsible for workers’ wellbeing?

The benefits of a healthy workforce may be widely recognised, but whose responsibility it is to foster positive employee wellbeing is less clear cut. According to employers, 43% believe that improving wellbeing is a responsibility shared across the C-suite, people managers, HR and wellbeing leads, along with employees themselves.

Singling out specific roles, 13% believe that the C-suite alone is mostly responsible for an organisation’s employee wellbeing, tied with HR and wellbeing leads. However, most employers (61%) say their organisation doesn’t have someone employed in a wellbeing role.

Only 7% of employers believe that employees are mostly responsible over their own workplace wellbeing, possibly reflecting the view that wellbeing – despite being innately personal – is also influenced by several factors outside of an individual’s control.

A further 54% of employers believe that responsibility for improving employee wellbeing lies with all members of an organisation, from individual employees through to those working in the C-suite.

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Two people in an indoor setting with plants and a wooden table. One person in a wheelchair holds a notebook and pen, while the other stands beside them pointing at a laptop screen. Faces are blurred for privacy.
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of employers say their organisation doesn’t have someone employed in a wellbeing role

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It’s clear that wellbeing has a marked impact on organisational success, but what measures are in place, and how successful are current approaches? Find out on the next page.

Workplace wellbeing Wellbeing plans and challenges