New research from Wellhub, a global corporate wellness platform, reveals a glaring wellbeing gap between CEOs and their employees. Published in June 2025, the Return on Wellbeing 2025 Study found 93% of CEOs report excellent or good personal wellbeing compared with only 63% of employees. This stark difference suggests an accessibility problem, with impactful wellbeing support being both unaffordable for individual employees and inadequately addressed by organisations.

Through surveying over 1,500 CEOs and business leaders across 10 different countries – including the UK, US and Germany – the study also found over three-quarters of CEOs (78%) view wellbeing as a strategic investment, not merely a perk. 

This begs the question: If CEOs are self-reporting as happy and healthy, and they acknowledge the business benefits of workforce wellbeing investment, why does this significant executive-employee wellbeing gap exist? From financial disparities to unaddressed workplace stressors, this article examines the potential root causes of this concerning divide.  

Wellbeing inequality in the workplace

First, let’s examine the accessibility issue. The hefty pay of CEOs enables personal investment in high-cost options such as therapy, coaching, personal training, preventative healthcare assessments, wearable technologies, and better quality food and nutrition.

Many employees cannot afford to pay for these premium wellbeing provisions out of their back pocket. Deloitte’s 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey reveals over half of younger employees are living paycheck to paycheck, and there are also signs of a second-job trend emerging among SME workers who are struggling to cope with the rise of cost of living.

This financial strain exacerbates poor wellbeing, with MetLife research revealing 45% of employees with mental health problems citing money concerns as a key driver.

In the UK, many employees are also struggling to access NHS services, with a huge post-Covid backlog leaving 6.2 million individual patients waiting for treatment. While CEOs have the financial means to choose private healthcare, the same cannot be said for lower- and middle-income earners, who will be left on a long waiting list struggling to find support.

Essentially, these leaders possess the two-fold benefit of financial security and better healthcare access, which undoubtedly plays a significant role in this reported wellbeing imbalance.

If a CEO is invested in their wellbeing, they will strongly consider increasing organisational wellbeing budgets.

CEOs as wellbeing champions

With employees struggling to afford the support they need, organisations have a responsibility to offer meaningful solutions. According to Wellhub’s research, the CEOs reporting good wellbeing are strong champions for employee wellbeing investment – but this hasn’t yet translated into provisions and initiatives that make a meaningful impact.

Key findings show:

• CEOs who personally engage in wellness programmes are twice as likely to invest further.
• The biggest concern relating to employee wellbeing provisions among CEOs is employee participation (budget is a close second).
• Monthly impact reporting could boost the chances of further funding by 58%.

The good news here is that if a CEO is invested in their wellbeing, they will strongly consider increasing organisational wellbeing budgets. But this comes with caveats. 

Managing the participation problem

Poor uptake is a known issue, with over half (58%) of HR leaders admitting their wellbeing benefits were underused by employees in a 2024 study by Cigna Healthcare. It’s understandable, then, that business leaders desire a comprehensive wellbeing strategy. One that considers the full employee journey, including a proactive plan for encouraging participation. 

The issue lies, partially, in a lack of ongoing communications about available services and support for employees. Sending out an email introducing new initiatives does not suffice. Employees need regular reminders and nudges at key touchpoints.

Employers also need to investigate which cohorts have a particularly low uptake and follow up with a more nuanced approach. For example, research shows that up to 70% of young men avoid seeking mental health support, with the emphasis on ‘emotional expression’ rather than action-oriented approaches in therapy cited as a key avoidance factor. Reframing support mechanisms as a development opportunity better engage men who are reluctant to show vulnerability.

Addressing workplace stressors

Beyond this, organisations also need to reflect on their contribution to rising stress and burnout levels among employees – especially among the younger generations. Deloitte research finds 40% of Gen Zs and 34% of millennials are anxious or stressed all or most of the time, with one-third saying their job is a significant contributing factor to their poor mental health.

Dr Jo Burrell – a clinical psychologist and co-founder of Ultimate Resilience – notes that employers are not tackling this problem effectively. “The landmark Oxford study found that many wellbeing interventions fail to improve wellbeing because they don’t address core workplace stressors. Employees won’t engage with tokenistic offers. Employers must do the groundwork needed to understand job demands and ensure support is relevant, timely, and effective.”

Without an intentional approach that combats the real struggles of employees, this stark wellbeing gap between CEOs and their people will only persist

Making a genuine impact starts with strategy

Wellhub’s research also found that over half of CEOs view wellbeing as a strategic investment – one that has increased productivity (56%), reduced absenteeism (67%) and strengthened employee retention (73%). 

Yet their second biggest concern relating to wellbeing benefits is the high implementation cost. These big budgets require proof of impact, with leaders stating that more frequent reporting (ideally monthly) could lead to enhanced wellbeing budgets.

However, further investment is not granted solely through timely reporting. Organisations need to consider the problems they are trying to solve and the impact they wish to make when creating a wellbeing strategy. This will enable them to benchmark their progress along the way. Dr Jo Burrell notes that this (often overlooked) starting point needs to be informed by employees and their struggles. “CEOs may see wellbeing as strategic, but many skip the strategy. Too often, interventions are chosen for their popularity or polish, not their relevance.”

“A truly strategic approach starts with listening: understanding employee pain points and tailoring support accordingly.” She adds: “Without this, even well-intended offers risk missing the mark entirely.”

Closing the wellbeing gap

Employees today are contending with a high cost of living, rising work-related stress and long-term health conditions – all with limited access to the right support. While CEOs may understand the negative impact these issues have on the business, this awareness has not yet translated into an effective wellbeing strategy that gets to the heart of the problem.

Without an intentional approach that combats the real struggles of employees, this stark wellbeing gap between CEOs and their people will only persist – and widen.