Mental health support tops workplace benefits for over half of under-30s

Mental health support has become one of the most influential workplace benefits for younger employees, with new research showing more than half of under-30s now consider it their most valued occupational health benefit.

A survey of 1,000 UK adults, commissioned by healthcare management platform Semble, found that 56% of people under the age of 30 rank mental health support as the workplace healthcare benefit they value most. By comparison, just 37% of those aged between 51 and 70 said the same, highlighting what researchers describe as a significant generational shift in employee expectations.

The findings come as UK employers face increasing pressure to improve workplace wellbeing. According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), mental ill health is now the leading cause of long-term sickness absence, contributing to the estimated 148 million working days lost to ill health across the UK last year.

The research also found that mental health provision is influencing where people choose to work. Almost half (47%) of respondents said access to mental health support would affect their decision to join or remain with an employer, suggesting wellbeing packages are becoming an increasingly important recruitment and retention tool.

Researchers say employers are now expected to provide proactive occupational health services that help staff access support before physical or mental health issues escalate, rather than simply responding when employees become unwell.

Regional differences also emerged in the findings. Around one-third (33%) of respondents living in London and the South described private healthcare as a “must-have” workplace benefit when considering a new role, compared with just 15% of respondents in Scotland.

Harjeev Rai, CEO and Medical Director at national occupational health provider Hessington Health, said employers are seeing a major shift in employee expectations.

He said: “We’re seeing employee expectations shift significantly, with people increasingly expecting proactive mental health support that enables them to seek help early, before issues become more serious. Alongside this, organisations are recognising their legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010 to identify employees experiencing mental health problems and make reasonable adjustments to support them at work. Occupational health is no longer solely about managing sickness absence; it’s about understanding the relationship between health and work. Forward-thinking organisations are treating investment in employee wellbeing as a core part of their ESG framework and policies – taking a proactive approach rather than a reactive one. In our experience, organisations that embed this into their benefits strategy tend to have a happier, more loyal workforce, with stronger engagement and retention as a result.”

Christoph Lippuner, co-founder and CEO of Semble, said organisations have an opportunity to improve both employee wellbeing and business performance by investing in accessible occupational health support.

He said: “Employees increasingly expect occupational health provision to be proactive, easy to access and embedded into everyday working life rather than only available at moments of crisis. For employers, this is an opportunity to take a more joined-up approach to wellbeing, using technology to identify needs earlier and provide more consistent support. Done well, this can strengthen both workforce health outcomes and retention.”

The research reflects a growing trend among employers to place greater emphasis on preventative healthcare and mental wellbeing as organisations compete to attract and retain talent in an increasingly competitive jobs market.

With younger workers placing a higher value on accessible mental health support than previous generations, the findings suggest workplace wellbeing is no longer viewed as an optional employee perk but as a core expectation of modern employment.