The pandemic’s impact on employee wellness revealed

A new report explores the evolving workplace sentiments and health concerns of 2,185 professionals from 19 countries. The study was conducted in October 2020 by ClassPass, a membership that provides access to the world’s largest network of fitness and wellness experiences. In addition to building the largest business-to-consumer fitness network in the world, ClassPass partners with more than 2,000 corporate clients, equipping employers with flexible corporate wellness options for their teams. Research findings include:

Professionals reported that fitness benefits are the most valuable ancillary benefit that can be offered during the pandemic. 

• 70% of professionals ranked fitness benefits as the most valuable benefit outside of healthcare.
• Other top ancillary benefits ranked by professionals include mental health benefits, home office stipends, financial wellness benefits and childcare.

Fitness has been an important part of routines for many professionals:

• 96% say they feel more motivated and less stressed after exercising.
• 89% say they feel more productive during the work day after exercising.
• 3 in 5 professionals who have participated in a team workout reported feeling more connected to their team afterwards.
• 25% are exercising more since the start of COVID-19.
• 1 in 5 are using their previous commute time to exercise.
• 4 in 5 say fitness activities are crucial to establishing a new work-from-home routine.

92% of professionals hope to return to fitness studios and gyms in 2021

• Half of professionals are planning a hybrid mix of in-studio and at-home workouts.
• 40% of professionals plan to return exclusively to in-studio workouts when they feel safe to do so.

There is an opportunity to equip employees with better tools to tackle stress and inspire engagement.

• Three in four professionals currently work from home full-time, and one in four professionals have relocated temporarily or permanently since COVID.
• Half of professionals (48%) say their employers did not have a remote working policy prior to COVID.
• A majority of employees (71%) feel less connected to coworkers. Additional challenges include work/life balance difficulties, lack of motivation, more burnout and stress, having to share space with others, and a lack of home office setup or an inadequate home office setup.
• Half of professionals say their workload has increased, with one in four professionals sharing that they have fewer resources than before COVID (less pay, smaller teams, etc.)