Workplace wellness programmes: a waste of time and money?

Global corporate industry is booming but positive impact on staff well-being is debatable

Office fun
In the UK more than half of employers have adopted formal staff well-being strategies
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The global corporate wellness industry was worth $53 billion (£41 billion) last year – but the true value of workplace well-being initiatives is harder to quantify. 

A report published this week by Emergen Research showed that annual company spending on wellness has skyrocketed from $8 billion (£6 billion) in 2016, before the Covid-19 pandemic upended well-being and workplaces alike. Most is spent on health risk assessment, thanks to the rising prevalence of chronic disease, but a growing chunk goes on mental health support programmes such as stress management courses. Rising rates of anxiety and depression, as well as longer working hours and greater workloads, were "key factors" driving the increase, said the report, as well as the increased focus on well-being.

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Harriet Marsden is a writer for The Week, mostly covering UK and global news and politics. Before joining the site, she was a freelance journalist for seven years, specialising in social affairs, gender equality and culture. She worked for The Guardian, The Times and The Independent, and regularly contributed articles to The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, The New Statesman, Tortoise Media and Metro, as well as appearing on BBC Radio London, Times Radio and “Woman’s Hour”. She has a master’s in international journalism from City University, London, and was awarded the "journalist-at-large" fellowship by the Local Trust charity in 2021.