Employers today are facing “turbulent times”—from economic challenges to growing healthcare costs, tech disruptions and geopolitical challenges—said Jim Winkler, chief strategy officer at Business Group on Health, at a virtual news conference this week. Yet, despite those pressures, investment in employee wellbeing hasn’t waned—with signs that it will actually increase in the coming years.
The findings were part of a survey of more than 130 BGH members—primarily Fortune 500 and large public sector companies—about their approach to employee wellbeing. Seventy-three percent of those surveyed said their investment in this area is staying the same in 2025, with 18% citing a small increase and 2% noting a large bump. Just 4% said their investment decreased to any extent.
That level of commitment was “surprising,” Winkler said.
“Given the environment and the volume of uncertainty organizations face today,” he said, “I did not expect to see as much enthusiasm for maintaining the status quo in 2025.”
BGH explored employee wellbeing strategies across six dimensions, with three emerging as clear priorities for employers:
Mental health
A full 99% of employers surveyed ranked mental health in their top three employee wellbeing priorities, with 47% rating it first.
“This represents the established recognition of mental health as having a core relationship to overall wellbeing,” said Brenna Shebel, vice president at BGH. “And it’s something we’ve been seeing a lot of discussions about in the marketplace in the last few years.”
Physical health
Mental health was closely followed by physical health—with 87% of respondents ranking this as a top area for investment, and 40% saying it was their primary focus.
Financial health
While financial health was far less likely than mental or physical health to be a top employee wellbeing investment priority, Shebel said, it is an “obvious third area of focus,” with 70% of survey participants putting it in the top three.
Leading-edge employee wellbeing strategies
Employers are investing in a range of employee wellbeing programs. When it comes to mental health, for instance, the majority offer employee assistance programs, while access to teletherapy and mindfulness resources are also leading benefits.
Among the more innovative and emerging strategies for employee mental health, Shebel said, is the inclusion of mental health champions or advocates—trained team members who can increase awareness and drive adoption of wellbeing benefits.
“The idea of looking to peers, supervisors or managers as stewards of wellbeing is not new, but it is really important for employers to not just provide these programs but to look to others to help spread the word,” she said. “We’ve seen a lot of success from employers embarking on this approach.”
On the physical health side, tobacco-cessation programs were the most common offering, followed by diabetes prevention and weight-management resources, including coaching and access to wearables. The emergence of GLP-1 drugs for weight management, Shebel noted, has not dissuaded employers from investing in physical health offerings.
“It’s clear employers are continuing to offer a well-rounded suite of offerings related to wellbeing, even though there is an effective medication on the market,” she said.
The role of diet in physical health is also gaining increased attention, Winkler noted. While physical activity challenges were a popular offering among employers, there is “renewed interest” in how nutrition works hand in hand with activity to promote healthy lifestyles.
“Twenty years ago, there were the pedometers and then it was step challenges; movement is important [to physical health] but it’s only a part,” Winkler said. “We’re seeing employers now looking for innovative ideas [to help employees eat healthy], which makes sense from a wellbeing standpoint and in terms of dealing with workforce weight challenges.”
A look ahead at employee wellbeing trends
To promote employee financial health, U.S. employers are mostly leaning into financial seminars or lunch-and-learns, as well as resources to help employees make key financial decisions and navigate areas like debt management and budgeting.
Employee financial health is primed to be an increasingly important piece of the employee wellbeing puzzle in the coming years, according to the survey. When asked to look to the next three to five years, 58% of employers said they expected to either maintain or expand employee wellbeing resources and 40% anticipated maintaining the same level of investment. Expansion was most commonly expected for financial health, followed by mental and physical health offerings.
“This really does reinforce,” Winkler said, “how employers are increasingly viewing wellbeing as a critical component not just of how they attract and retain employees but how creating healthy, present and productive workforces allows organizations to deliver results in challenging times.”
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