2025 Workplace Wellness Trends You Should Be Aware Of

As the year approaches, it’s time to put together our annual list of workplace wellness trends that could significantly influence your corporate well-being strategy in the coming year. In 2025, we expect employers to focus on reducing employee burnout, enhancing support for women’s health at all life stages, strategically using AI to improve well-being connections, and looking to leadership to model wellness for the organisation. Read on for more insights…

2024 was another challenging year for the workplace, resulting in the lowest levels of employee engagement we’ve seen in over a decade. Employers recognise that this unsettled environment is affecting employees and now see well-being as a crucial part of their workforce strategy. In 2025, we’ll see employers remain committed to their investments in workplace wellness. Let’s explore a few areas where we predict employers will concentrate their efforts.

Trend #1: Burnout is real.

WebMD’s Centre for Research conducted a study and found that a third of all employees are experiencing persistent burnout. Employee perceptions of burnout also increased by over 25% from 2022 to 2024. Our research found heightened levels of burnout among members of Gen X, senior managers and director-level employees, as well as those working onsite compared to those with more flexible work arrangements (e.g., hybrid).

We defined burnout based on four primary dimensions: feeling emotionally drained, feeling negative about work, feeling unable to have an impact, and feeling overwhelmed with workload. It’s not the day-to-day, short-term stress or pressures we might occasionally feel, but rather something that is chronic, intense, and unrelenting.

We know that individuals experiencing burnout have higher absenteeism, decreased productivity, a diminished quality of work, and are more likely to be looking for a new job. Unfortunately, most employees feel their company isn’t doing enough to prevent and address burnout. To truly make a difference, attention must be paid to both employee-centred factors and organisational-level factors.

So how will employers respond? We expect them to:

• Work to understand how burnout manifests within their organisation and the underlying reasons for it.
• Examine the work environment, workload, and managers’ expectations; create clarity around what is expected of individuals and their work.
• Delve into leadership strategy to understand the important role leaders play in setting the tone for how work gets done.
• Pay attention to employee voice, focusing on culture and fostering community through a holistic listening strategy so employees feel heard, seen, and valued.

Trend #2: Benefits to support women’s wellbeing across their lifespan.

With five generations of women now in the workforce, there is a wider range of women’s health care needs that employers must consider when developing their workplace well-being and benefits strategy—from the childbearing years to menopause and beyond.

Most organisations provide good support for the childbearing years, but until recently, we haven’t seen the same level of support for menopause and caregiving benefits. Over two million women enter menopause each year in Australia. By 2030, the world population of menopausal and postmenopausal women is projected to increase to 1.2 billion, with 47 million new entrants each year. Women going through menopause are the fastest growing demographic in the workforce, and it’s estimated that 85% of women experience menopause symptoms at work, impacting their overall productivity. Health care spending for women is also 21% higher than for men. With this in mind, we’ll see employers:

• Continue to support women with preventive care, preconception planning, fertility benefits, and post-pregnancy support.
• Introduce new benefits to assist during the menopausal years, which might include access to Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), flexible work arrangements, and workplace accommodations.
• Raise awareness of menopause as a business issue, normalise conversations about menopause and aging, and train managers to be supportive.
• Provide holistic caregiving support that includes resources for childcare and elder care, parental leave for new mothers and fathers, and family caregiver leave.
• Listen to what employees are asking for regarding the full spectrum of women’s health care needs.

Trend #3: AI may be a potential catalyst for change in employee well-being.

We included AI in our trends list for 2024, and it’s clear that this will continue to be a topic of interest. As we look to 2025, we recognise the potential for AI to enable transformative innovations in the field of workplace well-being. Like last year, there’s still caution around the applications of AI, particularly regarding privacy, inappropriate use of data, and bias – and employers will need to overcome employees’ potential mistrust of AI. While we don’t anticipate organisations using AI to replace the more clinical aspects of wellbeing, we do expect it to support the operational and administrative aspects of their strategies, including:

• Optimising the wellbeing experience using data analytics and aggregation to support personalised solutions and enable targeted communications;
• Assisting with benefits administration and increasing benefits awareness; and
• Collaborating closely with vendors to understand how and where AI is being used in their solutions.

Trend #4: The role of leadership in fostering a culture of wellbeing.

Leaders have a significant impact on the success of employee well-being in any organisation. When leaders prioritise well-being, it signals to employees that their health and happiness matter. This is critical because employees who feel their employer cares about their overall well-being are three times more likely to be engaged at work, less likely to report feeling burnt out, and more likely to thrive in their overall lives. They’re also less likely to actively search for a new job and five times more likely to strongly advocate for their company as a great place to work. What actions will we see in 2025 to equip leaders with the skills to support employee wellbeing?

• Encourage open dialogue and communicate the importance of well-being to the entire organisation.
• Create safe feedback loops for employees to share their opinions with leaders (employee listening).
• Include well-being in leadership training.
• Model the healthy behaviours they want their employees to practice and recognise leaders who prioritise well-being.
• Introduce accountability for well-being outcomes in performance plans.

Moving Forward – what does the future hold for Workplace Wellness? 

2025 holds a wealth of opportunities for organisations to elevate their corporate well-being strategies and create workplaces that prioritise and nurture the health and happiness of their employees. By embracing these workplace wellness trends, organisations can chart a path forward where wellbeing isn’t just a buzzword, but a fundamental pillar of organisational success.