Thriving Workplaces How Employers can Improve Productivity and Change Lives 2025

All economies benefit from improving the health of workforces, but the distribution of value varies The case for investing in employee health and well-being applies beyond high-income countries. Investment in employee health could boost global GDP by between 4% and 12%, with high- and middle-income countries each contributing roughly half of that total (2% to 5%) (Figure 2).16 However, average salaries are lower in middle- income countries, so analysis suggests that these countries have up to four times as many employees who would benefit – an estimated 2.5 billion employees compared to 636 million employees in high-income countries.17 The data on low-income countries was insufficient to reliably estimate the value at stake or the total number of employees potentially affected, but there is little doubt that employees in these economies would also benefit from workplace investment in health. Within low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), non-communicable diseases (such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes) meaningfully influence employee health, well-being and productivity. Premature deaths due to non-communicable diseases account for 80% of deaths in LMICs.18 With limited financial security provided by the state and greater pressure on workers to maintain a stable income and afford healthcare, workplaces in LMICs have a significant opportunity to support good employee health. Total economic value opportunity of investing in healthy workforces in high-, middle- and low-income countriesFIGURE 2 All economiesHigh-income economiesMiddle-income economiesLow-income economies2 All economiesHigh-income economiesMiddle-incomes economiesLow-income economies2Low range High range Notes: 1. Costs associated with implementing health and well-being interventions not included in calculation, 2. Low confidence in current estimates for low-income economies because of insufficient and unreliable dataTotal GDP, $ trillion Initiatives’ estimated share of global GDP, %1 100. 6 4-12%3.7 11.7 61.2 38.2 Insufficient data1.21.8 1.7 5.7 5.40.60.2 2-6% 2-5% Source: McKinsey Health Institute analysis Thriving Workplaces: How Employers can Improve Productivity and Change Lives 8