More than 1 in 4 employees report low well-being, according to a new report from WebMD Health Services.
Fewer employees are thriving today than they were 2 years ago, and financial stress continues to weigh heavily on the workforce. New findings from WebMD Health Services show a clear shift in the challenges employees face and underscore the need for organizations to rethink how they support their people.
The findings are detailed in the 2026 Workplace and Employee Survey Report, released today and based on responses from more than 3,872 full-time U.S. employees.
Key findings:
- Overall employee well-being is down sharply from 2024. The share of employees reporting high well-being fell 11%, while the share reporting low well-being surged 39%.
- Only 1 in 10 individual contributors report being highly engaged at work, which is three times lower than engagement scores reported by senior leaders.
- 80% of employees use AI at work. The more they use AI, the more productive they feel. But employees who strongly agree that AI makes them more productive are also 4.5 times more likely to experience burnout.
Employees Rank Their Financial Well-Being Lowest
For the third straight year, financial well-being ranked lowest among the five dimensions of well-being: physical, mental, work, social and financial. Less than half of employees (45.5%) reported strong financial well-being this year.
Mental, work, social and financial well-being have all declined at a rate of 3 to 4 times greater than physical well-being over a 2-year period.
“Physical health programs have long been the foundation of organizational well-being strategies, and their relative stability suggests those investments are holding,” said Erin Seaverson, Senior Director of the Center for Research at WebMD Health Services. “But the sharper decline in mental, work, social and financial well-being shows that today’s pressures extend beyond what physical health programs alone can address.”
The Employee Engagement Divide
The data shows how workplace experience varies widely by role. Just 12% of individual contributors say they are highly engaged at work, compared with 37% of senior leaders. Well-being scores show a similar gap.
Meanwhile, middle managers, who are often expected to connect leadership and frontline employees, are carrying the heaviest load. Their burnout rates are more than three times higher than those of individual contributors.
“Every employee deserves to feel engaged, valued and well at work. But these gaps show that one-size-fits all approaches are no longer enough,” Seaverson said. “Organizations need well-being strategies that reflect the different realities employees experience at every level.”
Trust Transforms Well-Being and Engagement
Trust has a powerful effect on how employees feel and perform. Employees with high trust in their organization are 27 times more likely to be highly engaged than those with low trust.
The findings suggest that well-being programs can be a strategic tool for building trust, support and care across the workforce. “Trust is not peripheral to well-being; it is one of its most powerful drivers and must be treated as a core component of any strategy,” Seaverson said.
Survey Methodology
The 2026 Workplace and Employee Survey, conducted by the Center for Research at WebMD Health Services, surveyed 3,872 full-time U.S. employees to examine the current state of workforce well-being and identify way for how organizations can better support their people.
Explore Hrtech Articles for the latest Tech Trends in Human Resources Technology
