In boardrooms and breakrooms alike, the word “wellness” has found a permanent seat at the table. No longer confined to gym memberships or fruit bowls, workplace wellness in India has matured into a broad and urgent agenda, encompassing mental health, physical well-being, emotional resilience, and work-life balance.
And yet, despite the increased awareness, our latest survey, conducted by Amazing Workplaces across diverse industries and company sizes in India reveals a sobering reality: while intent is high, execution often lags. The data tells a story of organizations grappling with uneven adoption, fragmented strategies, and a lack of measurement, all of which threaten to undermine the very benefits wellness programs promise to deliver.
Workplace Wellness in India: A Landscape of Intent vs. Action
The global corporate wellness market, valued at a substantial $65.25 billion in 2024, is projected to grow to nearly $102.56 billion by 2032, a clear sign of worldwide investment in this space. However, when we asked Indian organizations whether they have a formal wellness program, the responses painted a telling picture that highlights both progress and fragmentation.
The survey by Amazing Workplaces found that:
- 49.06% of organizations have only basic programs.
- 33.96% run comprehensive programs that integrate physical, mental, and preventive health.
- 15.09% admitted to having no program at all.
- 1.89% are planning to start one.
The numbers show progress, but also a considerable gap when viewed through a global lens. For context, in the United States, roughly 76% of large organizations (500+ employees) have access to wellness programs, suggesting that while India is on a positive trajectory, there is still significant ground to cover in terms of widespread, comprehensive adoption.
This disparity underscores the difference between a program on paper and a lived experience of care. As Hitha Gujjar, eloquently states:
“Wellness begins with how seen and supported people feel at work. Burnout isn’t just about workload, it’s often about silence, invisibility, and disconnection. As communicators, we have the power to shape cultures where empathy is practiced, not preached, and where well-being is woven into the everyday, not reserved for crisis.”
“Wellness begins with how seen and supported people feel at work. Burnout isn’t just about workload, it’s often about silence, invisibility, and disconnection. As communicators, we have the power to shape cultures where empathy is practiced, not preached, and where well-being is woven into the everyday, not reserved for crisis.”
Hitha Gujjar
Key Workplace Wellness Initiatives in India
Diving deeper, we found that the most common initiatives currently active in Indian organizations are:
- Health insurance with wellness add-ons (36 mentions)
- Fitness or yoga sessions (31 mentions)
- Annual health check-ups (30 mentions)
- Mental health counselling or therapy (28 mentions)
These figures show a clear prioritization of fundamental health benefits and mental health support, which aligns with international trends. Encouragingly, mental health, long stigmatized in professional settings, now ranks as a central area of investment.
However, other critical areas remain underserved. A closer look at the data reveals that preventive health programs, financial wellness, and holistic stress management are far less common. This pattern suggests that many organizations still react to health crises rather than taking proactive, preventive measures. From an editorial perspective, this reactive approach is not just a missed opportunity, it’s a financially expensive one, as the costs of lost productivity, absenteeism, and turnover due to preventable health issues far outweigh the investment required for robust wellness measures.
Top Priorities for Workplace Wellness in India for the Coming Year
When asked about their top HR wellness priorities for the coming year, organizations consistently emphasized:
- Improving mental health support: From professional counselling to stress management and burnout prevention.
- Enhancing physical health initiatives: Including fitness programs, nutrition support, and health check-ups.
- Driving employee engagement: Through wellness challenges or campaigns.
The prominence of mental health in this list signals a significant cultural shift. Wellness is no longer synonymous with physical health alone; there is growing recognition that emotional and psychological well-being are equally critical to employee performance and retention. As Sharvani Shastry, People Operations Generalist at Ushur Technologies, explains:
“Employee wellness is critical to the productivity of a company. Most companies view it as another benefit they give, but this perspective needs to change. The need of the hour is employee satisfaction, not just in their roles, but in their outlook towards a company.”
“Employee wellness is critical to the productivity of a company. Most companies view it as another benefit they give, but this perspective needs to change. The need of the hour is employee satisfaction, not just in their roles, but in their outlook towards a company.”
Sharvani Shastry, People Operations Generalist at Ushur Technologies
Challenges Facing Workplace Wellness Programs in India
Despite the progress, significant roadblocks remain. The most common barriers cited in our survey were:
- Low employee engagement (39.62%): Even well-designed programs struggle if employees don’t participate or see the value.
- Budget constraints (32.08%): This is especially prevalent in smaller organizations where competing priorities dominate.
- Scattered solutions/lack of integration (22.64%): Initiatives often run in silos, making it hard to measure or sustain their impact.
- Lack of leadership buy-in (5.66%): Though a small percentage, this challenge is often more pervasive than reported, with leaders endorsing wellness verbally but not modeling healthy behaviours themselves.
These challenges are not unique to India. International reports also point to similar issues, such as low employee engagement and the rising cost of benefits, highlighting a shared global struggle to build a sustainable wellness culture. The pressure on employees is real and often acute, as noted by another senior HR leader from the media industry, who described the core challenge as simply “high work pressure.”
This candid observation from the front lines of HR highlights an uncomfortable truth: programs will always be secondary to the daily cues employees take from their managers and executives. As Rekha Mallan, Vice President, Growth & Strategy at ArisUnitern RE Solutions Pvt. Ltd., observes:
“Employee wellness and burnout are real issues today. With hybrid work blurring personal and professional boundaries, the pressure of social media, and long city commutes, stress can build up quickly. We must create a safe, supportive, and happy workplace so people can stay healthy, motivated, and free from burnout.”
“Employee wellness is critical to the productivity of a company. Most companies view it as another benefit they give, but this perspective needs to change. The need of the hour is employee satisfaction, not just in their roles, but in their outlook towards a company.”
Rekha Mallan, Vice President, Growth & Strategy at ArisUnitern RE Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
The Measurement Gap in Workplace Wellness in India
If there’s one statistic that stands out as both worrying and illuminating, it’s this: 52.83% of organizations track wellness outcomes only informally, and 20.75% don’t track them at all. Just 26.42% have a structured system of metrics and feedback in place.
Without clear measurement, wellness risks becoming a “feel-good” initiative rather than a results-driven strategy. Organizations that fail to track participation rates, satisfaction levels, and health outcomes cannot assess ROI, nor can they make informed improvements. The editorial verdict on this is clear: this lack of measurement is the Achilles’ heel of India’s corporate wellness journey. Until organizations start treating wellness with the same analytical rigor as any other business function, the conversation will remain aspirational rather than transformative.
Guidance for Enhancing Workplace Wellness Programs in India
To address these challenges and move the needle forward, a segmented approach is required.
For smaller organizations: Start small but be consistent. Wellness helplines, basic mental health support, and flexible work policies can deliver outsized impact. Use free or low-cost digital resources to supplement formal programs.
For mid-sized companies: Integrate wellness into core HR policies rather than treating it as an add-on. Track participation and collect employee feedback regularly. Share success stories to create a culture of engagement.
For large enterprises: Centralize wellness efforts across departments and locations for consistency. Invest in analytics and dashboards to monitor progress and assess ROI. Offer leaders training in modeling healthy workplace behaviours.
Regardless of size, the golden rule remains: wellness initiatives must be authentic, visible, and backed by leadership commitment.
The Future of Workplace Wellness in India
India’s workplace wellness movement stands at a defining moment. On one side is a growing recognition of its importance; on the other is a patchwork of programs struggling to gain traction. The opportunity lies in moving from ad hoc efforts to integrated strategies that are preventive, data-driven, and deeply embedded in organizational culture.
If companies can close the gap between intention and action, they will not only enhance employee well-being but also unlock higher productivity, better retention, and stronger employer brands. Because when employees feel cared for, they don’t just show up, they show up better.
