In 2021, Corporate Wellness becomes a Necessity

Seventy percent of professionals say that fitness benefits are the most valuable after healthcare and four in five professionals say fitness has been crucial to establishing a new work-from-home routine. Even as we start transitioning back into an office setting, working professionals are not only going to want to continue to make fitness a part of their daily routine, but they are going to look to their companies to help make that happen.

Laura Putnam, CEO of Motion Infusion, a San Francisco-based wellness company that brings movement into the workplace, and author of “Workplace Wellness that Works,” states that wellness initiatives are becoming essential. “What I’m seeing is that wellness is moving from a ‘nice to have’ to a ‘must have,'” she says.

“More and more companies are finally getting it that it’s way more than just having a corporate wellness program in place, it’s about well-being as a way of doing business.” said Putnam. “I hope one of the silver linings that comes out of the pandemic will be a recognition by employers that movement and physical exercise is critical to employee well-being. From what I’ve heard from managers and business owners, increasing physical activity levels, especially during work time, will be at the top of their priority list when people can begin to return to their workplace.”

What will this look like? “I expect that businesses will begin implementing official policies to encourage employees to be more active throughout their day and normalize activities such as walking meetings, team-based stretches or mid-day workouts,” said Putnam. “I also believe employees will be encouraged to go for walks during the day, rather than just taking a coffee break, or incorporate movement into the work place like jogging on the spot or providing ellipticals, similar to when standing desks were introduced to the workplace.”

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