As evidenced by a recent employer-employee survey from Aetna International, employees are prioritizing their mental and physical well being more than ever before. With responses from 4,000 employees and 1,000 employers, 66% of employer respondents feel that Covid-19 has increased employee expectations in regards to health and wellness benefits offered by employers — and 63% say there is now a greater expectation for them to take responsibility for employee health beyond the workplace. In other words, employees expect more.

Employees' Main Concerns 

Top employee concerns while working from home range from weight gain and mental health, to stress and musculoskeletal issues, yet there were differing views on the tools and resources offered (or not offered) by employers for support. Only 25% of employees rated their employer support for dealing with stress when working from home as “good,” compared to 42% of employers. Additionally, more than 80% of employees agree that their mental (84%) and physical (89%) health are more important now than a year ago. In fact,

• 75% agree that they’re more interested in activities that support mental health, such as meditation
• 69% say they are more interested in fitness and nutrition

With nearly 50% of employees agreeing that they would need access to physical and mental health support to be more productive at work, it’s critical that employers are taking the time to explore and deliver solutions that revolve around whole-person wellbeing.

[Read More: Emotional Agility]

The Grokker Takeaway

Employees are looking for holistic wellbeing support in response to this “new normal” and beyond. They need the digital resources and on-demand tools to help them prioritize their mental, physical, and emotional health — and have fun while doing it.