Several articles and studies published in reputed journals hint at a rise in the incidence of depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, as per an article in the British Journal of Psychiatry, during the first six months of the national lockdowns, mental health issues among women, socially disadvantaged people, young adults, and those with pre-existing mental health problems exasperated. Similarly, an article published by Lancet says that “In patients with no previous psychiatric history, a diagnosis of COVID-19 was associated with increased incidence of a first psychiatric diagnosis in the following 14 to 90 days.”
Similarly, as per an article published by Harvard, the incidence of intimate partner violence has risen during the pandemic as a result of the mass depression and anxiety problems. Moreover, another article in Lancet has shown that COVID-19 can increase the risk of mental health issues. As a result, P&S Intelligence expects the corporate wellness market size to grow from $51 billion in 2020 to $100 billion by 2030, at a 7.0% CAGR between 2020 and 2030. The sadder thing is that mental health issues are not only being recorded among those with COVID-19 but also in those without it.
This is because the so-called social distancing and self-isolation guidelines have made people, especially geriatric people, lonely. Further, a lot of people have lost their jobs, and many of those who haven’t have been furloughed or are working on significantly reduced salaries. This is why after witnessing a reduction during the initial lockdown phase, the demand for corporate wellness solutions started rising again in 2021, just as the lockdowns were lifted, offices started opening, and companies began hiring.
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Even otherwise, many companies had been taking employee wellness seriously because of the rising prevalence of other kinds of diseases. The sedentary lifestyle, wherein people sit behind a computer all day, hardly moving around and engaging in physical activity, has raised the prevalence of several chronic diseases, especially cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). A review of research studies published in Annals of Internal Medicine in 2015 confirmed this fact with the finding that sitting for long hours raised the risk of CVDs significantly.
This is why corporate houses and other kinds of companies are offering health risk assessment, smoking cessation, fitness, health screening, stress management, nutrition & weight management, and other corporate wellness plans to their employees. As per the World Health Organization (WHO), the implementation of such programs can reduce healthcare expenses for companies by 26% and work absenteeism by 27%. These improvements would ultimately result in higher productivity and revenue, which, combined with the better health of employees, is a win–win.
This is why numerous companies around the world, especially in North America, have a comprehensive health risk assessment program. These solutions allow companies to keep a track of their employees’ health and recommend treatments to those vulnerable to any specific disease. This is the first step in controlling healthcare costs as this way, treatments can be offered before the condition of employees becomes serious. For instance, with regular blood pressure testing, the risk of heart attacks can be ascertained and the actual event stopped from occurring.
In the coming years, Asia-Pacific (APAC) will become the fastest-growing corporate wellness market because of the significantly lower adoption of these solutions by companies here compared to those in the developed world. “In many countries more than half of workers are employed in the informal sector with no social protection for seeking health care and lack of regulatory enforcement of occupational health and safety standards.”, says the WHO, which is true of APAC.
Hence, with the rising awareness on employee welfare, the demand for corporate wellness solutions will rise globally.