Workers Expect Employers to Do More to Address Well-Being During Pandemic

Employees are making their physical and mental well-being a higher priority as the pandemic drags on, and they expect their employers to do more.

“The outbreak of a global pandemic has heightened employee expectations when it comes to corporate health-care provisions, with many turning to their employers like never before for effective well-being solutions,” said Dr. Hemal Desai, global medical director for Aetna International. “Workers’ needs for health and well-being support are also more visible to employers than ever.”

In a recent survey of 4,000 employees and 1,000 employers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, more than 60% of employees said they want their employer to spend more on mental and physical well-being support:

• 87% of employees agree that access to quality health care is more important to them now than it was a year ago.
• Only 25% of employees are satisfied with the mental health support provided by their employer while working from home during the pandemic.
• 63% would like more to be spent by their employer on health and well-being initiatives.

The survey found a disconnect between employees and employers. Although 63% of employees would like more to be spent by their employer on health benefits and other resources to help them stay healthy, just 34% of employers agreed that this is something they should be doing.

There was an even larger discrepancy about remote work:

• Just 25% of employees would rate the support they receive from their employer for stress as “good,’” compared to 42% of employers.
• 27% of employees would rate the support they receive for mental health issues such as depression and anxiety as “poor”; while only 9% of employers would say the same.
• Employees also were concerned about the level of mental and physical well-being support provided by employers for those working in the office:
• 55% of employers would rate the support they provide for general wellness in the office as good, but only 36% of employees agreed.
• 19% of employees would rate support for musculoskeletal problems as “poor,” compared to 7% of employers.

Since the onset of the pandemic, 35% of employers have made improvements to their mental health support and 36% to their physical health support by making it accessible to remote workers through technology. Additionally, only 23% have improved their general well-being support for remote workers in the past six months.

“Organizations across the globe are stepping up their health and wellness benefits efforts,” Desai concluded. “Yet it’s clear that more needs to be done given the volatile, unpredictable and complex state of the world.”