Productivity: Why Workforce Wellbeing Matters
In today’s complex and rapidly changing commercial environment, organizations strive to maximize productivity to remain both relevant and competitive. More and more, companies in the United States and abroad are seeking to understand the myriad of contributors to workplace productivity as a means to stand out from the crowd and advance corporate goals. Understanding gaps in productivity lagging and leading indicators can help an organization find evidence-based solutions to help the workforce thrive and achieve wide-ranging corporate benefits.
Productivity is the performance output of an organization’s assets and capital, both material and human, compared to the input and resources that goes into the end product. Human capital contributions to productivity are limited by 3 factors: Attrition, Absenteeism and Presenteeism. While a number of corporate efforts such as employee training, team leadership, technology support, work environment, etc, can affect human capital’s performance, this newsletter will focus on the Workforce Wellbeing contributions to overall productivity.
Attrition: workforce reduction, usually due to voluntary departures. An increasing number of workers are leaving their job at an alarming rate. Studies suggest the number of employees seeking to leave their current position is between 46-85% [1] with 35% of all workers say they are likely to change jobs in the next 6 months. This number jumps to 47% for workers ages 18-27. Workforce Well-being and Job Satisfaction are key contributors to this exodus.
Absenteeism: absence from work, usually due to illness, injury or health condition. Health-related issues or concerns are the overwhelming reasons for employees to be absent from work.
In the U.S. 2022, 7.8 million workers missed work in one month alone due to illness, injury or medical condition. This number doubled from the previous year and continues to rise. [3] Unscheduled medical visits alone cost employers $3,600 per hourly employee per year and $2,650 per salaried employee per year. [4] 77% of professionals are absent from work due to burnout alone. [5]
Presenteeism: reduced productivity while being at work, usually due to not being in optimal physical or mental health state. The top two conditions alone that cost U.S. employers close to $100 billion dollars in reduced employee performance at work are depression and pain diagnoses such as arthritis, headaches and back problems. [6] Other common conditions contributing to employee presenteeism are allergies, diabetes and infectious diseases. [7] Coupled with increased safety risks, getting other employees sick, lower morale and engagement the overall costs of presenteeism to employers in the U.S. tops $200 billion dollars each year. [8,9]
There is an abundance of evidence in both the medical literature as well as analyses from think tanks, brokers and government bodies such as CDC and NIOSH that discuss the wide-range of benefits of improving overall workforce wellbeing and it’s positive effect on the business as well as the individual worker. [10,11] CDC and NIOSH have analyzed data on employee health (mind, body, spirit), safety, and wellness (nutrition, sleep, fitness, activities, behaviors, etc) to develop numerous tools, models and guidelines to enhance Workforce Wellbeing.
More than half of U.S. companies offer their employees some or all of the programs included in the CDC Workplace Health Program in an attempt to achieve some of the well-researched benefits of improved workforce wellbeing that has been documented in the medical literature and business reviews. [12] Namely: Better Health Outcomes, Cost Reductions, Benefits to Worker Productivity and Corporate Performance and Competitive Benefits. In fact, over a quarter of U.S. companies have established onsite health clinics to provide health and wellness services (primary care, disease management, lifestyle medicine, preventive health, mental health, organizational psychology and/or occupational medicine) directly to their employees on the jobsite to maximize the wellbeing of their workforce. [13]
To combat threats to workforce resiliency and corporate stability, organizations are realizing that increasing the wellbeing of their workforce through programs that support the employee’s health status (mind, body and spirit), physical and safety environment, workplace experience and culture in an effort to achieve a thriving workplace that is able to better withstand everyday challenges to the organization. Indeed, currently only 4% of U.S. workers are considered “thriving” while the majority of workers experience less-than-optimal levels of engagement in the workplace. [14] More and more organizations are focusing on Workforce Wellbeing to improve productivity, decrease corporate risks and achieve a thriving organization.
[1] 2024 Work Trend Index Annual Report from Microsoft and LinkedIn. 2024_Work_Trend_Index_Annual_Report.
[2] Global Talent Barometer, 2024 Report and Key Findings. Manpower Group. MPG-Global-Talent-Barometer-2024-Global-Report.pdf.
[3] Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, 7.8 million workers had an illness-related work absence in January 2022 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2022/7-8-million-workers-had-an-illness-related-work-absence-in-january-2022.htm.
[4] CIRCADIAN Report. 2024 Shiftwork Practice Survey: Absenteeism, The Bottom-Line Killer. CIRCARDIAN 24/7 Workforce Solutions. Absenteeism Bottom Line Killer | CIRCADIAN® White Paper
[5] Workplace Burnout Survey: Burnout without borders. Deloitte. Workplace Burnout Survey | Deloitte US
[6] Presenteeism: At Work but out of it. Paul Hemp. Harvard Business Review. Presenteeism: At Work—But Out of It
[7] Widera E, Chang A, Chen HL. Presenteeism: a public health hazard. J Gen Intern Med. 2010 Nov;25(11):1244-7. doi: 10.1007/s11606-010-1422-x. Epub 2010 Jun 12. PMID: 20549378; PMCID: PMC2947637.
[8] Identifying and Reducing Presenteeism in the Workplace. Cat Symonds. 2022. Factorial. Identifying and Reducing Presenteeism in the Workplace | Factorial
[9] Stewart WF, Ricci JA, Chee E, Morganstein D. Lost productive work time costs from health conditions in the United States: results from the American Productivity Audit. J Occup Environ Med. 2003 Dec;45(12):1234-46. doi: 10.1097/01.jom.0000099999.27348.78. PMID: 14665809.
[10] Thriving Workplaces: How Employers can Improve Productivity and Change Lives. World Economic Forum and McKinsey Health Institute. January 2025. Thriving workplaces: How employers can improve productivity and change lives | McKinsey
[11] 120 Employee Wellness Statistics For 2025 | Wellable
[12] 2023 Employer Health Benefits Survey. KFF. Section 2: Health Benefits Offer Rates - 10240 | KFF
[13] U.S. employers focus on providing affordable health programs and boosting employee wellbeing. 2021 Best Practices in Health Care Survey Key Findings Brief. Willis Towers Watson.
[14] To defend against disruption, build a thriving workforce. McKinsey, 2024. How to build a thriving and resilient workforce | McKinsey