Wellbeing That Works: What the 2025 CIPD Report Means for Modern Workplaces
The new CIPD Health and Wellbeing at Work 2025 report has arrived, and it is essential reading for anyone shaping people culture or workplace strategy. Drawing on responses from more than 900 HR professionals across the UK, it highlights a reality we see every day: workplace wellbeing is not a luxury, it is a business essential.
At Pamper Puff, we have taken a close look at the findings and distilled what they mean for how companies can care for their people through action, not just intention.
1. Wellbeing is Business-Critical
The report shows what many of us already sense:
87% of organisations observed employees working while unwell.
47% reported rising mental health absences.
Only half of senior leaders are fully engaged with workplace wellbeing.
The message is clear. Wellness cannot live in an email footer or a token fruit bowl. It must be embedded into culture, modelled by leadership and felt by every employee.
At Pamper Puff, we see engagement rise when companies make care visible through small, consistent actions such as in-office massage, nail bars or simple team reset sessions. These moments are not surface-level perks, they are signals of value and trust.
2. Mental Health: Progress with Gaps to Close
Encouragingly, 69% of organisations now provide mental health training for managers. Yet fewer than half of those managers feel confident having meaningful, supportive conversations.
This is the missing link. Managers often care deeply about their teams but lack the language, structure and confidence to help effectively. Our Coaching and Wellness Sessions help close that gap by giving leaders and teams practical tools for calm communication and emotional resilience.
3. Menopause and Long-Term Health Need Real Support
Only 30% of organisations have a menopause policy, and just 24% offer tailored support for chronic conditions or long-term health issues.
Inclusive wellbeing means seeing the whole person. Many employees, especially women and carers, are still managing in silence. Employers can make a real difference by providing time, space and understanding, alongside visible gestures of care such as massage for tension relief or guided rest breaks during busy days.
Explore our Workplace Wellness Packages to see how small actions can make a big difference.
4. Flexibility Meets Fatigue
Hybrid work has become the new normal, but it also brings new pressures. Digital overload, blurred boundaries and a culture of being constantly “on” are creating quiet burnout across industries.
True flexibility means freedom with structure. Introducing regular wellbeing time, digital switch-off windows or shorter recharge sessions helps teams find balance. Simple acts of care — like 15-minute desk massages or midweek wellbeing breaks — remind people that rest is part of the work, not separate from it.
5. Turning Insights into Action
The report makes one thing clear: most companies want to care, but they do not always know where to start.
To build meaningful wellbeing at work:
Prevent burnout early. Notice signs before they escalate.
Blend physical and mental wellbeing. Massage, movement and mindfulness work best together.
Support working parents and carers. Offer real breaks, not just flexible hours.
Measure what matters. Collect feedback and track engagement over time.
Our Takeaway for 2025
Wellbeing is not an HR initiative. It is how a company demonstrates care and builds belonging. The workplaces that thrive in 2026 will be those that treat wellbeing as culture, not compliance.
At Pamper Puff, we believe in bringing care into everyday spaces — from boardrooms to breakrooms — because when people feel better, they work better, live better and connect better.