Thriving Workplaces How Employers can Improve Productivity and Change Lives 2025

With more than half of the working population reporting suboptimal employee health, change is imperative Today’s workers face unprecedented challenges across sectors and geographies. Contemporary threats to health include a rise in mental health disorders and obesity; unmet needs from conditions such as diabetes, cancers, brain health disorders and cardiovascular conditions; and concerns about how climate change will affect food security, infectious diseases and access to healthcare.43 A 2023 McKinsey Health Institute survey of more than 30,000 employees across 30 countries44 found that 57% of employees globally reported good holistic health45 (physical, social, spiritual and mental health),46 while a fifth of people reported burn-out symptoms.47 Only 49% of employees were “faring well”48 – meaning they had positive scores on holistic health and no symptoms of burn-out.49 There are multiple drivers of negative and positive health, but it is clear that the current state of health in workplaces is associated with the choices that employers and societies make. It is within the power of executives to build both healthier workforces and healthier societies. Change is necessary and achievable, with many ways to improve health within employers’ control.All industries need to improve workforce health – but some industries have surprising results Based on the 2023 McKinsey Health Institute survey, this report reveals, for the first time, the state of holistic health across more than 35 industries (Figure 5).50 Encouragingly, in only 10% of the industries surveyed did more than a third of employees report burn-out symptoms. In two- thirds of the industries, however, more than 20% of employees said they were burned out, and in no industry did more than 75% percent of employees say they were healthy overall.51 Employees reported higher rates of burn-out symptoms and lower rates of holistic health in five industries (reported on their percentage of faring well): accounting, retail, agriculture/forestry/fishing/ livestock, shipping/distribution, and arts/media/ entertainment/recreation.52 Conversely, industries reporting good holistic health and low burn-out symptoms (reported on their percentage of faring well) included human resources, construction, administrative and support services, education and engineering/architecture. These results reflect a global snapshot of a specific point in time and should be interpreted as a potential opportunity for improvement (see box “What was measured”). They do not mean every farmer or artist struggles with health, and neither do they negate any of the hardships a carpenter or human resources executive faces. Instead, this research offers new data points for employers seeking ways to improve employee health. Thriving Workplaces: How Employers can Improve Productivity and Change Lives 14