Wellhub's 2026 report: what the numbers actually show
Wellhub, formerly Gympass, now the world's largest corporate wellness platform with 50,000+ partner companies, publishes an annual State of Work-Life Wellness report. The 2026 edition is its most comprehensive yet: 5,000+ employees and executives surveyed across 9 countries. The headline finding: 93% of workers now consider well-being as important as salary when evaluating a job offer. That was 83% in 2022. Wellness has moved from secondary perk to primary decision factor in four years.
For HR leaders still trying to justify a wellness budget, this report finally provides the quantified arguments those conversations have been missing. The most compelling data point on retention: employees who regularly use employer-provided wellness benefits are 4.5x less likely to report intent to quit within the next 12 months. Wellhub controls for pre-existing engagement levels in its analysis, this isn't just engaged employees being engaged. The relationship holds after statistical adjustment.
Absenteeism, productivity, and the adoption gap
Companies with comprehensive wellness programs, covering at minimum physical movement, psychological support, and nutrition, report 28% lower absenteeism and 19% fewer sick days than companies without structured programs. ROI benchmark from Wellhub's data: every €1 invested in a well-designed wellness program generates an average €2.30 in recovered value through avoided turnover and absenteeism costs.
The most instructive finding isn't in the performance data, it's in the offer-versus-relevance gap. 67% of employees say their company offers wellness benefits, but only 31% say those benefits actually meet their needs. That 36-point gap explains why many companies invest in wellness without seeing returns. Companies that segment their wellness offering by employee profile, rather than a single package for everyone, get 2.4x higher utilization rates and 40% higher wellness satisfaction scores. Volume of benefits offered matters far less than actual adoption quality.