Healthcare costs continue to climb. AI is reshaping how work gets done. The demands on managers keep growing. And as the workplace changes rapidly, so does what your people need to thrive.
Today, smart organizations know that how they take care of their employees’ health doesn’t just impact the individual employee—it impacts some of the organization’s most pressing business challenges.
Looking toward 2027, the question isn’t simply, “Do we have an employee well-being strategy?” It’s “Are we strategically deploying well-being against the challenges that matter most to our business?”
This blog outlines the four trends we believe organizations should prepare for today that will define the next chapter of well-being. In identifying them, we leaned on our decades of experience in workplace well-being, as well as in-house research, external research and conversations with our clients and peers.
For each trend, you’ll learn:
- What’s changing;
- Why it matters; and
- What the latest data shows.
Most importantly, you’ll receive practical steps to help you take action. The goal of this post isn’t just to point out what’s coming but to help you prepare with a forward-thinking strategy that connects the dots between how your people feel and how your business performs.
Trend #1: AI is changing how employees feel at work.
The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) creates new demands around adaptability, cognitive load, performance and trust.
As organizations accelerate AI adoption, most of the focus, until now, has been on technology, productivity and upskilling. The emerging challenge for 2027 is the human impact. The conversation must expand to include the physical, psychological and social effects of working alongside AI.
Without question, AI will transform the way that work gets done to create efficiencies and improve productivity. In fact, our 2026 Workplace and Employee Survey found that the more employees engage with AI tools, the more productive they feel. Our research also reveals a critical tension: the very employees delivering the greatest productivity gains through AI are also the most vulnerable to burnout. Employees who strongly agree that AI makes them more productive carry a burnout risk 4.5 times higher than those who are neutral or disagree.
This is not only a risk to employee well-being but also to turnover, as McKinsey research suggests over half of those experiencing burnout plan to leave their jobs in 3 to 6 months.
Without a human-centered approach to how AI-enabled work is designed and managed, the pace of change itself becomes a well-being risk.
Why this matters.
AI is creating a new category of employee well-being risk.
It is changing job security, work expectations, skill requirements, workload, organizational structures, manager roles, psychological safety and employees’ sense of purpose. Leading organizations recognize that successful AI adoption requires more than technical readiness; it requires an approach that balances business outcomes with employee well-being, trust and sustainable performance.
Gallup finds that employees’ engagement increases when leaders introduce AI with clear expectations, active manager support and a structured implementation plan. Leaders need to define how employees should use AI, what outcomes matter and where human judgment remains essential.
Employers must also help employees adapt to changing roles and expectations. Our data shows that 90% of employees report feeling confident in their ability to handle change at work, yet more than one in three feel their organization isn’t giving them adequate support to navigate it. This gap between personal readiness and organizational support represents a significant risk that, if left unaddressed, can erode engagement, trust and long-term adaptability.
As AI becomes increasingly embedded into work, your well-being strategy must evolve with it, addressing the mental and emotional, social and physical dimensions of well-being. It should help employees develop healthy AI habits while maintaining the human capabilities, resilience and connections that drive sustainable performance.
Your action steps:
- Assess the human impact of increasing AI adoption. Evaluate how AI impacts well-being, workload, psychological safety and trust. Use employee listening, engagement data and workforce analytics to identify areas where AI is creating stress or uncertainty and then, most importantly, act on it.
- Equip managers to lead AI-enabled teams. Provide managers with the skills to navigate workforce change, communicate transparently about AI, address employee concerns and build trust as teams adapt to new ways of working.
- Embed well-being into AI transformation initiatives. Partner with technology, operations and business leaders to consider well-being throughout AI implementation, including its impacts on job design, workflows, collaboration and employee experience.
- Evolve employee support for the AI era. Expand mental health, learning and coaching resources to help employees build confidence, adapt to changing roles and develop the skills needed to thrive in AI-enabled workplaces.
Trend #2: Brain health is the next well-being priority.
Supporting brain health is an investment in both human capabilities and business performance.
Brain health at work is becoming an increasingly important dimension of well-being. Focus, memory, critical thinking, creativity, judgment and emotional regulation are foundational to how people perform, as well as how they navigate increasingly complex work and life demands. Supporting brain health isn’t just about preventing cognitive decline; it’s about helping people sustain performance, resilience and well-being.
The Center for BrainHealth defines brain health as optimizing the brain to perform at its best across cognitive, sensory, social-emotional, behavioral and motor areas on a daily basis. It can be shaped by the conditions people work in, such as their workload, stress, autonomy and sense of connection. In 2027, leading organizations will recognize brain health as a component of well-being and as a business imperative.
Why this matters.
Businesses run on brain power. People use it to make important decisions, solve critical challenges and think both creatively and analytically. As workplace change accelerates, including AI adoption, the ability to adapt to and thrive in it is determined by brain health.
Employees already recognize that work affects their brain health—and most say the effect is negative.
- Stress and anxiety are at an all-time high. This stress follows employees home, affecting their sleep, nutrition and relationships, which are essential to overall well-being.
- Today’s workplace is filled with digital noise, back-to-back meetings and constant pressure.
- Over-reliance on AI carries a burnout risk. Our 2026 Workplace and Employee Survey Report found that employees who strongly agree that AI makes them more productive face a burnout risk 4.5 times higher than those who are neutral or disagree.
Fortunately, a 2026 McKinsey Health Institute report explicitly frames brain health as something employers can influence through workplace conditions and the opportunity to intervene before it reaches critical levels. Supporting brain health is thus a proactive strategy to create a healthier, more focused work environment and sustain innovation.
Importantly, brain health extends beyond cognitive function and encompasses neurological and cognitive conditions including dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. A comprehensive well-being strategy should also recognize these conditions as part of the broader brain health continuum, providing education, awareness and support that can help employees better understand their risk and access appropriate care and resources. For those living with or supporting someone with a chronic brain condition, this kind of support can be especially valuable in addressing the stress and uncertainty that accompanies these conditions.
Your action steps:
- Assess current practices. Utilize established measurement frameworks—such as the HERO Health and Well-being Best Practices Scorecard—to benchmark your current workplace wellness initiatives, identify gaps and establish a baseline “brain health score” for your well-being strategy.
- Audit and redesign work for brain health. Identify practices that hinder focus, like meeting culture and chat/email overload. Champion initiatives like meeting-free blocks or days, shorter default meeting lengths, clear norms for response times and after-hours messages, and training on deep work habits such as focus time and single-tasking.
- Integrate brain health into your well-being platform. Offer integrated support for sleep, nutrition, physical activity and mindfulness—all proven to enhance cognitive function—along with education on neurological and cognitive conditions.
- Frame lifelong learning as a brain health benefit. The World Economic Forum notes 6 in 10 workers will need upskilling by 2030 and “brain skills” like creative thinking, resilience and analytical thinking will be key. Position upskilling and professional development not just as a business need but as a powerful way for employees to keep their brains healthy, agile and resilient.
Trend #3: Manager well-being is the foundation for employee well-being.
Managers play an important role in driving employee engagement and well-being, but potentially at the cost of their own well-being.
Being a people manager today is a complex role that goes well beyond making sure work gets done. Managers are the critical link between organizational strategy and employee experience. They are expected to drive change, support AI adoption, manage performance, control costs, and create a healthy workplace, often while navigating significant pressure of their own, both at work and at home.
The result is that managers carry the heaviest burnout burden in the organization. Our recent Center for Research survey found that manager burnout rates are more than three times higher than individual contributors, and are higher than senior leaders, too. That burden is especially concerning because it isn’t matched by a corresponding level of engagement or well-being. Middle managers are essentially holding the organization together while quietly bearing the greatest strain within it.
In 2027, the trend isn’t simply training managers to support their employees. It’s a more nuanced recognition that manager well-being is the foundation for employee well-being, so organizations need to intentionally invest in their capacity to lead, support and multiply its positive impact. That means:
- Equipping managers with the skills, tools and confidence to recognize signals, have supportive conversations and connect employees to the right resources.
- Recognizing manager well-being isn’t optional; it’s essential for leading healthy teams.
Why this matters.
Managers are arguably the most important factors that shape how employees experience the workplace. If your managers are burnt out, disengaged or unsupported, your well-being strategy will struggle no matter how well-designed it is.
That’s especially true as AI changes how work gets done. Managers translate organizational priorities into day-to-day expectations, helping employees understand where AI adds value, where human judgment remains essential and what good performance looks like as work evolves.
Managers don’t need to become well-being experts, but they do need to be well-being champions. A supported manager is better positioned to support a healthy team. An unsupported one becomes a pressure point for disengagement, burnout and turnover.
Your action steps:
- Invest in the manager, not just the employee. Consider specialized well-being support that recognizes their unique pressures, such as leadership coaching and mental health resources designed for the demands of leading others.
- Train to notice, not to fix. Managers aren’t therapists. Equip them with simple, practical frameworks to recognize signals, start supportive conversations and connect employees to the right resources.
- Equip managers for the human side of AI. Managers are increasingly responsible for helping teams navigate AI-driven change while adopting it themselves. Give them the training and tools to address uncertainty, changing roles and performance pressure.
- Measure and reward well-being leadership. Make well-being part of how you define effective management. Incorporate psychological safety, team health, engagement and retention into performance, development and recognition. What gets measured gets prioritized.
Trend #4: Well-being is a lever for healthcare cost containment.
Supporting people where they are today helps prevent tomorrow’s high-cost health conditions.
Employers are expecting a 9.5% increase in employee healthcare costs for 2027, driven by rising utilization, pharmacy, chronic conditions and high-cost claims. As that pressure grows, employers are raising the bar for well-being as a cost containment strategy.
A comprehensive well-being approach recognizes that employees’ needs exist across a full spectrum of health, from those who are healthy to those who are managing multiple complex or chronic conditions. Focusing primarily on the highest-risk population can miss the employees whose health trajectories will drive future costs.
To protect the bottom line, organizations are recognizing the need to address healthcare costs across the full continuum, from immediate cost containment to long-term risk reduction. CFOs and HR leaders seek healthcare cost containment strategies and solutions that can address today’s highest-risk, highest-cost populations while simultaneously investing in prevention, behavior change and healthier populations to flatten the healthcare cost curve over time.
In 2027, this will increasingly position well-being as a population-wide strategy for driving appropriate use of care, preventing avoidable risk and improving health outcomes. The result is a more integrated approach to well-being that connects what organizations do today to manage costs with what they do over time to improve health, financial sustainability and workforce resilience.
Why this matters.
Research shows a clear link between health risk and healthcare costs over time. That means cost containment can’t be solved by focusing only on who’s generating the highest costs today; the greater opportunity is to influence health trajectories earlier, before risks become more complex, costly and difficult to change.
This is where well-being will play a critical role in 2027. Organizations should not have to choose between investing in employee well-being or managing healthcare costs. The strongest well-being strategies do both—they address the factors that contribute to health risk while helping prevent and reduce risk that can drive higher costs tomorrow. This means that well-being becomes part of a connected cost-containment strategy, capable of delivering near-term financial value while lowering long-term workforce risk by helping people prevent disease, reduce risk and stay healthier longer.
Your action steps:
- Look across the entire health spectrum. Support people who are currently healthy as well as those with health risks and those managing complex conditions. Don’t let a focus on today’s highest-cost members overshadow prevention and early intervention.
- Connect well-being to the healthcare strategy. Integrate it with benefits, care navigation, clinical programs, behavioral health, pharmacy, preventive care and other population-health efforts rather than treating it as a standalone program.
- Target the right intervention to the right population. Use population insights to determine where broad-based support, targeted behavior change, or more intensive interventions will have the greatest impact.
- Measure beyond engagement. Shift the conversation from participation and satisfaction toward health outcomes, behavior change and utilization in the near-term, while tracking prevention and risk reduction as drivers of long-term ROI.
Now is the time to future-proof your well-being strategy.
Together, these four trends change the conversation from, “Should we continue funding well-being?” to “How should we strategically deploy well-being to help address the challenges our business is facing today?”
AI adoption, brain health, manager well-being and healthcare cost containment aren’t separate line items—they’re converging pressures that a strategic well-being approach must meet head-on.
The organizations that get ahead of these shifts in 2027 will be taking steps to build a workforce that’s more resilient, more adaptable and better equipped to perform, all while sending a clear signal to employees about what they value.
Ready to address the well-being opportunities ahead? Contact us to help you build a winning well-being strategy for the future.
