With employee stress on the rise, HR leaders are focusing on continuous engagement, and integrated benefits to improve overall well-being.

By Maggie Mancini

Employee stress is reaching a breaking point. Nearly three in four U.S. employees face moderate to high stress at work, and fewer employees are convinced that their employers care about their mental health, according to research from Aflac. Heavy workloads continue to be the primary driving force behind work stress, while outside of the office, employees from all generations face stress and worry around finances, personal responsibilities, and uncertainty about the future.

To combat this, the most important shift in employee wellness in 2026 is the move from reactive, episodic support to increasing resilience among the entire workforce, says Sandra Kuhn, vice president of employer workforce strategy at Headspace.

“Workforces need care that’s comprehensive for the entire employee population, addressing needs that are both high and low acuity,” agrees Tracie Marcus, CHRO at ComPsych. “It’s so important that we’re providing employees resources that meet them where they are and help them overcome the modern life stressors we all face.”

A comprehensive, integrated approach to employee well-being also creates a more consistent, equitable experience for workers across an organization, Marcus says, whether they’re in the U.S. or global, remote or in-office, hourly or salary, and across various generations and demographics.

“Employers are increasingly recognizing that wellness is not just about responding to a crisis or offering access to care. It’s about helping employees sustain focus daily, adapt to change, and recover from stress over time.” – Sandra Kuhn, Vice President of Employer Workforce Strategy, Headspace

“Employers are increasingly recognizing that wellness is not just about responding to a crisis or offering access to care,” Kuhn says. “It’s about helping employees sustain focus daily, adapt to change, and recover from stress over time. We’re seeing growing emphasis on preventive skill-building, coaching, and continuous engagement, not as replacements for clinical care, but as essential components.”

Another defining point, Kuhn adds, is simplification. Companies are moving away from stacks of disconnected point solutions and towards platforms that can engage broader populations, integrate with existing benefits, and deliver measurable outcomes.

“Ultimately, I think an increased focus on comprehensive, integrated well-being solutions that serve the whole person rather than piecemeal offerings is a trend I think has the potential to fundamentally shift the worker well-being landscape this year and beyond,” Marcus says.

The Broad Impact of Well-being

The broader employment landscape has significantly increased the day-to-day psychological demands placed on employees, Kuhn says. Persistent economic uncertainty, organizational change, and faster work cycles have created sustained cognitive and emotional load—even among high-performing employees.

“What we’re seeing in workforce research and real-world engagement is that many employees experience strain as reduced focus, fatigue, and difficulty sustaining effort over time, rather than as an acute crisis,” Kuhn explains. “This has made it clear that wellness strategies can’t focus solely on treatment and recovery. They also need to support resilience, adaptability, and ongoing performance capacity.”

Recently, ComPsych has been paying more attention to how AI is impacting the employment landscape, particularly with increased job insecurity and anxiety among workers about how their roles will be impacted, Marcus says.

“We’re focused on helping our internal teams and our customers through this transition by empowering them to use technology while still emphasizing the importance of their skills and uniquely human contributions,” she adds.

In the immediate aftermath of COVID, there was a substantial increase in the attention paid to employee wellness—specifically mental health—and for good reason: ComPsych data shows mental health leaves of absence increased by 300% from 2019 to 2024.

“Responding to this, we become more proactive both in our internal teams and with our customers to reinforce available mental health resources to combat burnout and build resiliency,” Marcus adds.

Supporting Wellness, Managing Costs

The organizations that succeed in 2026 and beyond will be those that treat employee wellness as a core infrastructure, Kuhn says. It’s important that companies focus on wellness as something that supports performance, stability, and long-term workforce health, rather than something that’s only activated when there’s a problem.

“Population-level engagement, coaching, and care navigation help guide employees to the appropriate level of support, while high-quality clinical care remains a core part of the program for diagnosis, treatment, and higher-acuity needs,” she says.

This balanced approach:

• improves outcomes;
• preserves clinical resources; and
• helps manage long-term healthcare costs without restricting access to care.

HR and business leaders looking to improve wellness support while managing costs should consider the following.

1. Provide comprehensive care that reaches employees at both the low and high acuity ends of the spectrum. Employees have varying wellness needs—from low-acuity issues that may require telehealth counseling or nutrition education, or higher-acuity concerns, including mental or physical health conditions, that may warrant longer-term care. “This approach ensures organizations and individuals receive the right support to keep functioning as they work to overcome challenges and obstacles,” Marcus says. “It also helps manage costs more effectively versus deploying multiple point solutions that separate personal needs from the often-related emotional impacts.”

2. Focus on optimizing care rather than expanding it indiscriminately. “This means investing in preventative, skill-building support that helps address everyday stress and performance challenges early, while ensuring clinical care is available when it’s truly needed,” Kuhn says. This strategy could include health screenings, nutrition education, stress management, or other similar programs that build long-term skills and improve outcomes.

3. Emphasize employee outcomes. “Organizations that perform well over time are not defined by how much stress their employees can tolerate, but by how effectively they help people build resilience, recover, and adapt,” Kuhn explains. “As scrutiny on wellness investments increase, intent and access are no longer enough. Quality, engagement, and outcomes are what matter.”