2025 is poised to bring fresh challenges and opportunities to the world of HR benefits. HR leaders face the challenge of balancing innovative benefits with cost management. Employees increasingly expect employers to understand their complex challenges and want benefits that align with their individual needs. And emerging technologies, like AI, hold the potential to solve long-standing challenges. 

Read on to discover the trends reshaping employee benefits this year and what you can do to leverage these trends effectively.

1. Personalized wellbeing programs will become the norm

The workforce is diverse, and employees want flexible benefits that suit their individual needs. Instead of treating wellbeing programs with a one-size-fits-all approach, HR teams will focus on customizable benefits that employees can tailor to meet their needs. 

Our research shows that companies plan to expand their benefits packages in 2025 — 57% of HR leaders say they’ll increase the number of point solutions they offer. These point solutions enable employees to personalize their benefits experience more than ever. For example, there are benefits for cancer care, diabetes management, menopause support, and sleep improvement. 

The challenge with offering all these options is it can lead to point solution fatigue. The more benefits you offer, the more HR teams have to manage, and the more employees have to sift through. As employers expand their benefits in the year ahead, it’s essential to monitor utilization and survey employees to ensure that benefits are truly aligned with their needs.

2. AI will make it easier to find instant answers to health and wellbeing challenge

Generative AI has been dominating the headlines since the emergence of ChatGPT in late 2022. According to Gartner, 76% of HR leaders believe that if their organization does not adopt and implement AI solutions in the next 12-24 months, they’ll fall behind organizations that do. In 2025, HR teams will get better at leveraging this fast-evolving technology to meet strategic goals, with benefits navigation being one of them. 

Generative AI, combined with employee wellbeing data, can power conversational benefits agents. These AI-powered agents will end the wild goose chase for benefits. Instead of having to fish through PDFs and intranet sites to find the right program for their needs, employees will turn to conversational benefits agents like GrokkyAi for instant answers. 

Best of all, employees won’t have to speak benefits jargon to find what they need. They only need to share their challenge with the benefits agent by asking a question like, “What can I do about my back pain?” On the backend, the agents are trained on all of the benefits the company offers, as well as insights on which interventions are ideal for individuals based on demographics and social determinants of health. That enables them to deliver instant relief by guiding employees to the right interventions for their challenge, not just directing them to the home page of a benefit website.

With generative AI transforming the benefits experience, HR teams will spend less time answering repetitive questions and work on more niche benefits challenges. 

3. Employers will view wellbeing holistically

The concept of employee wellbeing has steadily expanded to include not just physical and emotional health, but financial and occupational wellbeing as well. This trend will continue in 2025, as employers recognize that these factors are all interconnected. 

The holistic perspective acknowledges that emotional stress can impact physical health or that financial insecurity can disrupt focus and productivity. For instance, a SoFi study found that 25% of employees say financial stress lowers their productivity. 

To prevent this snowballing effect, employers will create holistic wellbeing programs that help employees tackle their complex challenges. One way to do this is to integrate benefits. In fact, 87% of employers believe that integrating their wellness programs with other benefits offerings is important. 

These programs won’t just help employees deal with issues in isolation. For example, an employee facing financial hardships may be recommended mindfulness programs in addition to financial coaching benefits. Or an employee who’s dealing with a mental health challenge may also receive care for diet and exercise to ensure their physical health doesn’t suffer as well.

By adopting this interconnected approach, employers are positioning themselves and their employees for long-term success.

4. HR teams will place stronger emphasis on measurable outcomes and ROI

In 2025, HR teams will take a more strategic approach to measuring the outcomes of their wellbeing programs. According to Health Enhancement Research Organization research, 73% of employers say measuring the ROI of their wellness programs is a top priority. Budgets are growing tighter, and leadership teams want proof of the impact of investments. 

Instead of offering benefits and hoping that they’ll drive engagement, HR teams will embrace tools that track utilization rates, engagement levels, and their correlation to business outcomes. As they look to adopt new benefits programs, HR teams will need to build a clear business case for benefits investment, tying programs to goals like reducing absenteeism, enhancing employee health, or boosting workplace morale.

While this makes HR work more complex, it gives them an opportunity to highlight the ROI of wellbeing programs: for every $1 invested in workplace wellness programs, employers can see a return of $1.50 to $3. Ultimately, this results-driven mindset will enable organizations to make smarter decisions about which initiatives to prioritize, driving meaningful change for employees and businesses alike.

Leverage benefits trends to gain an edge in 2025

As we look ahead to 2025, it’s clear that HR leaders have an incredible opportunity to shape a more inclusive and supportive workplace. By embracing trends like holistic wellbeing, personalized benefits, and AI, companies can create environments where employees thrive. 

Prioritizing these shifts isn’t just good for people—it’s good for business.