Survey asks workers how they’re doing mentally and physically

Washington — Employee concerns about well-being trended downward this year, according to the results of a recent annual survey.

For its fifth annual Workplace Wellness Survey, the Employee Benefit Research Institute asked Greenwald Research to conduct interviews with more than 1,000 U.S. workers, both full- and part-time, ages 21-64. Participants were asked about their mental and physical well-being and the employment-based benefits available to them, among other things.

They also were asked to rate their well-being in different categories on a scale of 1-10. Level of concern about mental health came in at an average of 5.5 – down from 5.8 in 2023. For physical and financial concerns, the averages dropped slightly more, to 5.7 from 6.2 and to 6.3 from 6.9, respectively.

Other findings:

• 56% of the workers are “very or extremely satisfied” with their current job.
• Around 20% said their employer has increased efforts to improve their well-being, while 66% reported that those efforts have stayed the same.
• Nearly a third expressed concerns about artificial intelligence threatening their jobs.

“Progress is being made,” Jake Spiegel, research associate at EBRI, said in a press release. “However, we still see some workplace stressors. Workers broadly agree that their employers have a responsibility to make sure employees are mentally healthy, physically healthy and financially healthy.”