Intellect released the second edition of its report, Workplace Wellbeing 360 Report 2025: Benchmarking 10 Industries Across the World.
Providing data-driven insights into the evolving dynamics between workplace mental health and performance, the report is based on data from 50,000 employees from 182 countries and using Intellect’s proprietary and holistic 26-question Dimensions measurement framework.
Diving deep into the four components of workplace wellbeing – employee wellbeing, organisational support, work engagement and employee productivity – the report aims to compare workplace wellbeing across 10 industries globally, as well as help organisations assess their own state of workplace wellbeing against local and global peers.
“With the findings in Workplace Wellbeing 360 Report 2025: Benchmarking 10 Industries Across the World, it’s clear that mental wellbeing is a key driver of business success,” said Theodoric Chew, Co-founder & CEO of Intellect.
“Employers that invest in support systems, initiatives and programmes that help employees feel valued, will ultimately create healthier workplaces where teams are more productive and engaged.
“With this report, we want to empower employers and human resources professionals to make strategic, data-driven recommendations that drive measurable outcomes and enhance organisational performance.”
Employees in APAC feel more supported at work
In a year that saw global perceptions of organisational support decline slightly, Intellect’s report found that employees across the majority of industries in Asia Pacific (APAC) showed more positive sentiments in 2024. This led to a 1.5% year-on-year increase that enabled the region to reach parity with other regions.
The contrasting trend between APAC and other regions is also consistent when examining the personal factors that influence workplace wellbeing, with employees in APAC reporting improvements in areas such as mental wellbeing and resilience, among others, while their global counterparts reported dips or negligible growth in these areas.
Mental wellbeing is the strongest enabler of productivity
The findings point to personal mental wellbeing (r=0.67) as the most important factor when determining employee productivity, even more so than growth mindset (r=0.17) and goal orientation (r=0.17), two factors that many organisations prioritise.
This shows that investing in workplace mental health is both a strategic and financial imperative for businesses, and that personal development could be an overlooked driver of performance.
Employees are taking less time off – but this may be hindering productivity
Presenteeism, the phenomenon where employees are present but not engaged due to physical and mental health concerns, is rising. In 2024, presenteeism increased by nearly 8%, rising from 38.2% in 2023 to 41.2%, leading to a dip in productivity and efficiency. Further, presenteeism is a greater financial burden on organisations, costing 3X as much as absenteeism, or the number of days employees miss due to physical or mental health.
Helping employees manage stress is an urgent need globally
Though the global workforce has improved in self-efficacy, purpose and meaning, and optimism, there have been significant downward shifts in stress management, growth mindset, and self-awareness.
In line with their global counterparts, employees in APAC reported declines in stress management. With a year-on-year decrease from 60% in 2023 to 58% in 2024, employers should implement targeted initiatives. This will help mitigate stress and help staff members maximise their productivity in ways that are healthy, promote greater work-life balance and foster greater self-awareness.
