Wearables and rising healthcare costs to fuel growth of corporate wellness market
The corporate wellness market is forecast to grow at a steady 5% annual rate over the next 5 years. Wearable technology and rising healthcare costs are expected to underpin this growth.
Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets
A new report from market research firm Technavio looks at trends in the global corporate wellness market from 2018-2022. This envolves any workplace health promotion activity or policy designed to support healthy behavior in the workplace. It could be anything from health education to on-site fitness activities or facilities. Currently, health assessments and screenings segment hold the largest share, accounting for over 41% of this market.
Although we are still in the the early stages, there has already been a significant increase in the number of corporate wellness programs, particularly in developed countries. And more companies are offering employees activity trackers and smartwatches from providers such as Fitbit, Apple and Garmin as part of these initiatives.
This is a very lucrative market and wearable tech companies are keen to get a share of the pie. Fitness trackers, smartwatches, bluetooth headsets and smart glasses are not going away any time soon. These are devices that track steps, distance, calories, stress, sleep and more. Technavio expects they will remain a factor fuelling growth in this market in the years to come.
“Bank of America, for instance, incorporates corporate wellness programs for its employees,” according to a senior analyst at Technavio for research on health and fitness.
“Corporate wellness programs use stress mapping techniques that can assist human resource managers to determine stress initiating factors in the workspace and take appropriate actions to reduce the stress levels.”
Coupled with this is the increasing need to combat rising healthcare costs. These are typically split by the employers and employees, depending on the size of the business and type of insurance coverage.
US annual healthcare costs have topped $3 trillion in recent years. This makes healthcare one of the country’s largest industries.
Spiraling costs have become such a problem, that some consumers have become more afraid of medical bills than actual illnesses! Some are even dealing with this by skipping visits to physicians. And while this may reduce costs in the short term, it is counter-productive in the long-term both in terms of finances and health. This makes it all the more important for companies to offer all-encompassing wellness programs.
The report also provides a regional breakdown of the market. Unsurprisingly, at 46% the Americas held the largest share. This was followed by EMEA and APAC respectively.
For more information head over to technavio.com.
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