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Portland, OR — Fewer workers are “thriving” today than two years ago, results of a recent follow-up survey suggest.
Researchers from WebMD Health Services surveyed nearly 3,900 full-time U.S. workers to examine the current state of workforce well-being and identify how employers can better support their employees.
The percentage of respondents who reported “high well-being” dropped to 38.8 from 43.4 in 2024. Meanwhile, “low well-being” increased to 27% – up from 19.5% in 2024.
Financial stress is the largest driver, with fewer than half of the respondents (45.5%) reporting “strong financial well-being.” For physical well-being, 57.3% said they were in “very good or excellent” health.
“This represents the strongest area of employee well-being in 2026,” WebMD Health Services says.
Other findings:
- “The most productive artificial intelligence users” have a 4½ times greater risk for burnout than other workers.
- “Individual contributors” reported three times lower engagement than senior leaders.
- Middle managers have the highest risk of burnout.
“Trust – long absent from the well-being conversation – is one of the strongest predictors of both well-being and engagement in the dataset, driven almost entirely by how supported employees feel,” WebMD Health Services says.
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Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication