12 Corporate Wellness Trends for 2025

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Following the latest corporate wellness trends can help your program remain relevant and consistently boost engagement. However, some trends are little more than fast-fading fads, while others represent powerful pivots that drive measurable outcomes.

At WellSteps, we continuously track the evolution of wellness – focusing not only on emerging ideas, but also how they can help organizations meet wellness goals such as improved employee health, reduced costs, and a stronger work culture. Here, we’ve reviewed data from our own programs to identify twelve of the top corporate wellness trends that can make a lasting impact in 2025.

1. Personalized Programming

Many wellness programs focus on “company level” elements: activities done as a group, such as step challenges. Those are excellent initiatives, but in 2025, more employees are seeking autonomy. They want to take ownership of their personal wellness.

Wellness programs can cater to this trend with:

Flexible programming that lets each user decide how and when to participate
On-demand fitness and nutrition apps with customizable workouts and menus
Self-paced activity challenges where employees set their own goals
Interest-based social groups

For example, the WellSteps wellness platform features rich individual-based tools such as actionable PHA recommendations, Individual Challenges, My Tracker (for goal setting), and on-demand recipe, exercise, and meditation videos in addition to Rewards with a variety of activities for users to choose from.

A deep dive into the data behind our most successful programs revealed that finding the right blend of “company level” and individual-driven programming is key to success. The idea is to develop programming that delivers personalized recommendations while also addressing company culture and overall goals with group program elements and wellness tools.

This is where strong leadership, engaged coordinators, and empowered committees should work together to implement solutions that meet employee needs and foster consistent program growth.

2. Action-Based Programming

At WellSteps, we’re noticing a shift in client preference from education-focused programs to action-oriented initiatives. While both are needed for a comprehensive wellness program, users clearly crave more action-based programming. Employees reap the health benefits of their actions, and employers like to see the results over time.

The ability to adapt programming to client – and employee – preferences is a major reason why most WellSteps programs see year-over-year increases in registration rates, engagement rates, and Personal Health Assessment (PHA) completion rates.

For example, in 2024, WellSteps introduced 28-day Habit Builders, which are designed to help employees build healthy habits over 28 days. The format encourages employees to do the work within a defined period, which fosters high participation rates. And even though these programs last just 28 days, employees still develop habits that lead to lasting lifestyle changes.

Action-based programming ideas include:

Habit-building programs (e.g. 28-day Habit Builders)
Health and wellness challenges
Personalized goal setting and tracking

3. Frequent incentive payouts

One challenge wellness programs face is earning long-term employee commitment. Increasing the frequency of rewards payouts can help maintain high engagement levels.

For example, many WellSteps clients have transitioned to programs in which participants earn quarterly prizes. “Instant” gratification helps keep employees actively involved. That’s why we’ve included quarterly incentives in all of our campaigns.

Ideas include:

More frequent rewards payouts
Choosing incentives that can be awarded quarterly
Shorter campaigns

4. Prevention

Factors such as rising healthcare costs and absenteeism are causing companies to reimagine their wellness offerings with a focus on prevention. In fact, a Fortune Business Insights report states that many employers are investing heavily in preventive health measures.

Wellness programs can include preventive initiatives such as:

Smoking cessation and alcohol moderation classes
Personal health assessments, biometric and other health screenings
On-site vaccination clinics
Weight management programs
Sleep hygiene workshops

5. Mental Health Support and Stress Management

Wellness program providers are prioritizing mental health and stress management in 2025, as recent data underscores the need to provide resources that improve employee mental wellbeing. For example, a report by Mental Health America found that 75% of U.S. employees experience significant stress that impacts their sleep.

The good news is that employers seem to be taking notice. A report by the American Psychological Association found that 71% of workers say their employers are more concerned about mental health – which makes sense when you consider that 80% say employer support for mental health is an important consideration in job selection.

Ideas for incorporating mental health support and stress management into wellness programs include:

Self-help: Workshops for meditation, guided breathing, relaxation techniques, and stress management
Group help: Mental health awareness campaigns to reduce stigma and encourage social support
Professional help: Employee assistance programs, providing avenues for individual and group support and therapy such as mental health apps and on-site or virtual therapy sessions

6. AI in Wellness

AI is incredibly promising for corporate wellness programs because it can help companies create tailored, individualized wellness offerings that cater to each employee’s unique needs.

Here are two of the workplace wellness trends we’re seeing with AI in 2025:

Chatbots: For example, we’re building a new tool that will serve as a personalized health coach. It will evaluate our company level programming – including all the tools, education, videos, recipes, and other resources we offer – then interact one-on-one with each employee to deliver recommendations that cater to individual interests and have the greatest impact on their wellbeing
Troubleshooting and training: We’re also seeing AI used for troubleshooting and logistical training. For example, it can walk employees through how to use a tool or resource or troubleshoot specific problems not covered in knowledge bases or FAQs

7. Family Wellness Programs

We’re noticing more wellness programs extend beyond the employee to include spouses and other family members. Indeed, multiple studies show that people are more likely to become physically active, lose weight, and quit smoking with their spouses versus going it alone.

That’s why many WellSteps solutions include one free spouse or partner account, and many of our campaigns include “above and beyond” activities that encourage spouse, partner, or family involvement.

You can implement this corporate wellness trend into your program with:

Family fitness challenges
Family wellness events (5Ks, bike rides)
Family member access to on-demand fitness, nutrition, and mental health apps, libraries, and services
Preventive screenings and healthcare for family members
Family-centric rewards and incentives, including points systems where families can work together to earn rewards
Family retreats and wellness days

8. Financial Wellness Education

At WellSteps, we see a clear trend toward more financial wellness education, evident by increasing requests for programming that addresses employees’ financial concerns and future planning.

In fact, a 2024 FICO survey found that 98% of people are interested in learning about personal finance, and two-thirds believe they could improve their financial situations with more education.

Ideas for incorporating financial education into wellness programming include:

Financial literacy workshops
Debt management, credit repair, and homebuying seminars
Individual financial coaching sessions
Budgeting apps
Savings challenges

9. Nutritional Knowledge

Last year, a Purdue University study found that 25% of consumers made nutrition-related New Year’s resolutions – up 6% from the previous year. Moreover, EatingWell found that interest has grown 16% for anti-inflammatory diets. Nutritional knowledge is becoming more important than ever as employees understand the correlation between their diets and their health.

At WellSteps, we’ve seen increased demand for whole foods, fruits, vegetables, and healthy smoothies in workplace cafeterias and vending areas, and we’ve also fielded requests for workshops on topics such as how to eliminate processed foods and increase water intake.

Some of our most popular offerings are pre-recorded, 20-minute Lunch and Learns. Small and mid-sized organizations prefer the plug ‘n play format, and employees enjoy learning more about wellness and nutrition in a social environment.

Here are some ways to add nutritional knowledge to your wellness program in 2025:

Nutrition and healthy cooking classes and workshops
On-demand nutrition videos and recipes
Wellness newsletters packed with nutrition tips
Lunch and learns
Healthy eating and hydration challenges
Recipe sharing
Employee healthy potlucks
Healthy snack stations
Nutrition and meal planning apps
Incentives and rewards tied to nutrition

10. Fitness Libraries

On-demand fitness libraries are some of the most interesting corporate wellness trends to pay attention to in 2025, especially since they tie back to granting employees autonomy over their wellness programs.

At WellSteps, we’re receiving more requests for fitness libraries featuring classes, workouts, and information employees can choose between. On-demand fitness library ideas include:

Programming that caters to all fitness levels and capabilities, including low-impact workouts and chair exercises
10- to 20- minute express workouts
Variety of themes, including strength, cardio, yoga, mobility, and martial arts
Specialized programming, such as prenatal and postnatal, senior, and adaptive fitness
Family workouts

11. Disease Management

Prevention is a top corporate wellness trend for 2025, but so is disease management. More wellness programs include components that can help employees manage chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, asthma, hypertension, and heart disease.

WellSteps, for example, has our TLC program, and we’ll soon be launching a diabetes program that focuses on the habits one can adjust to reduce risk, avoid, or arrest diabetes.

Some options for disease management include:

Nutrition counseling
Biometric monitoring
Lifestyle coaching

12. Shifting Investment

Rising healthcare costs are forcing some companies to reevaluate their investments in wellness. Some are scaling back – which is a catch-22, since less education and healthy habit building can increase the risk of chronic disease, which will ultimately increase healthcare costs while leading to unhealthy (and unhappy) employees.

For example, WellSteps data shows that smaller organizations often allocate fewer resources to wellness with fewer incentives tied to benefits and payouts. The result is lower engagement, registration, and PHA rates compared to mid-sized and large organizations that allocate more resources to wellness.

One way to combat rising costs without cutting back on wellness is to capitalize on lower-cost initiatives that still yield positive results, including:

Gamified and quarterly challenges that increase engagement without increasing budgets
On-demand platforms instead of on-site services
Health and wellness apps versus on-site appointments
Preventive screening
Employee-led fitness initiatives
Integrating technology, such as AI solutions
Low-cost wellness activities such as walking meetings, desk yoga, and stretch breaks
Free online resources for fitness, mental health, nutrition, and wellness education

The world of wellness is continually evolving, so it’s important to adapt your program to remain relevant. Consider implementing these corporate wellness trends into your program to drive meaningful outcomes in 2025.

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