£100bn and Rising: The Real Reason Workplace Wellbeing is Falling Short

Elephants Don’t Forget explores why many workplace wellbeing strategies remain reactive and how organisations can take a more preventative approach to employee support.

Workplace wellbeing is receiving more attention than ever before. Over the last decade, organisations have brought out mental health first aiders, wellbeing apps, awareness days and events. Business leaders are talking about support, care and flexibility.

And yet, things don’t appear to be improving.

According to the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), the “hidden cost” of employee sickness reached £103bn in 2023 – an increase of £30bn since 2018. Even more striking, £25bn of that rise was driven by lower productivity, not increased absence.

This matters because it challenges a common assumption – that the biggest cost of poor wellbeing isn’t employees being off work, but rather, employees being at work, yet not able to fully perform.

In other words, the real issue isn’t just absence. It’s presenteeism – when individuals are stressed or distracted but continue to work at a reduced capacity. Left unaddressed, this can quickly escalate into absence.

At the same time, the CIPD’s Health and Wellbeing at Work Report 2025 highlights that workplace health challenges are continuing to intensify.

UK employees were off for nearly two full working weeks (9.4 days) on average in the last 12 months – up from 7.8 days in 2023.

More significantly, mental ill health (including stress, anxiety, and depression) is the leading cause of long-term absence, cited by 41% of employers.

Together, these trends suggest that when wellbeing issues aren’t identified and addressed early, they tend to surface later as absence.

So, despite greater awareness and investment, workplace wellbeing is still falling short. What’s going wrong and what can organisations do differently?

When “More” Doesn’t Necessarily Mean “Better”

Most organisations aren’t ignoring wellbeing. In fact, they’re actively investing in it, as evidenced by the presence of Employee Assistance Programmes, wellbeing platforms, mental health resources and financial support tools.

The problem isn’t a lack of provision. It’s a lack of engagement.

This is where many wellbeing strategies break down because access to support isn’t the same as using it.

Wellbeing, in many organisations, is still reactive by design. In many cases, this is because wellbeing is still treated as an afterthought – something to turn to when problems arise, rather than something embedded into the everyday employee experience.

From Reactive to Preventative: An Essential Shift

Reactive wellbeing clearly isn’t working – as evidenced by rising absenteeism, plus additional research from AXA’s Mind Health Study that states over half of employees (51%) negatively compare themselves to peers and it impacts their mental health.

However, the same AXA research found that those who believe their workplace cares for the mental health of its employees and is taking steps to help them are twice as likely to have better mental health.

So, rather than waiting for employees to speak up, organisations must:

• Prompt regular reflection on wellbeing.
• Identify early signals before issues escalate.
• Guide individuals towards the right support at the right time.

This is the difference between responding to burnout and helping to prevent it altogether. And it’s also where the biggest opportunity lies – it will not only improve the employee experience but also help reduce the long-term cost of poor wellbeing.

A Smarter Approach to Wellbeing: Unlocking The Value of What You Already Have

To close the gap between investment and impact, organisations need to rethink how wellbeing support is delivered.

That means moving towards:

• Proactive engagement, rather than passive availability.
• Personalised pathways, rather than one-size-fits-all solutions.
• Continuous insight, rather than occasional surveys.

It also means recognising that wellbeing is not a one-off initiative – it’s an ongoing conversation.

Wellbeing is designed around a simple idea that wellbeing fails when employees are expected to find help at the worst possible moment.

Instead of relying on employees to seek out support, this tool:

• Proactively prompts individuals to reflect on their wellbeing.
• Guides them through structured pathways based on their
• Connects them to the most relevant resources, when they need them.
• Builds a real-time picture of wellbeing across the organisation.

And the results include resources that are actively being used, relevant insights shared with managers to help them better support their teams and an organisation’s investment leading to measurable impact.

It’s Time to Rethink Wellbeing

The question isn’t whether wellbeing matters. It’s whether current approaches are actually working.

At a time where costs are rising, engagement is low, and needs are becoming more complex, simply offering support is no longer enough.

The goal should be to keep people well, not just help them once they’re not.

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This post has been re-published by kind permission of Elephants Dont Forget - view the original article.

Call Centre Helper is not responsible for the content of these guest blog posts. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of Call Centre Helper.

Reviewed by: Jo Robinson