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Over the past two decades, there’s been a fundamental shift in what employees value and the types of support they seek from employers. While economic security is always a key driver, salary alone is no longer enough to foster retention, engagement, and productivity.
In their State of Work-Life Wellness report last year, Wellhub found 93% of workers ranked their wellness as important as their salary. As we move into 2025, HR leaders must build benefits packages that not only attract top talent but deliver measurable returns on investment.
Most successful organizations move beyond traditional benefits to create ecosystems of support that address employees' entire scope of needs — from health and wellness, financial resources, family planning, and more.
Here are five benefits and several providers that are redefining workplace support in 2025.
Old: Insurance Plans with Basic Mental Health Benefits
New: Dedicated, Comprehensive Mental Health Support
What was once a nice-to-have perk has become a fundamental necessity. With 76% of U.S. workers reporting at least one mental health condition in 2021, and 81% in 2022 saying they’ll seek workplaces that support their mental health in the future, these benefits are a critical factor in employment decisions in 2025.
Spring Health has emerged as a leader in this space by offering comprehensive and customized mental healthcare for the workforce. Their platform offers personalized care matching that connects employees with the right providers based on their specific needs, background, and preferences.
In addition to helping employees navigate their options for care, Spring Health also offers:
- Virtual & In-Person Therapy
- Coaching
- Self-guided digital resources
- Work-life services
- Medication management
- Specialty Care, including Substance Use, Trauma, Eating Disorders and Mood and Anxiety Disorders
Their stated outcomes include:
- 12% increase in productivity
- 22% reduction in employee turnover
- 92% “demonstration” of clinical improvement following care
- 2.2x ROI on health care spend
Organizations that want to complement clinical support further with everyday mental wellness tools can opt for a provider like Headspace for Work.
Headspace provides science-backed meditation and mindfulness exercises that employees can access anytime, anywhere. The platform reports 32% reductions in employee stress within the first 30 days.
Old: 12-Week Maternity Leave
New: Supporting Modern Families with Comprehensive Reproductive Health Benefits
The workforce has never been more diverse, which means employees are also pursuing diverse paths to parenthood. Traditional support for family planning and conventional parental leave policies no longer suffice.
According to Maven Clinic, a women’s and family healthcare provider, 57% of employees surveyed consider taking a new job when it offers better reproductive health benefits. They also found that 49% of LGBTQIA+ professionals won’t work for a company without such benefits.
Modern benefits, including what Maven and others like Carrot Fertility provide, have expanded to a full range of reproductive care and family planning:
- Fertility treatment coverage and counseling
- Adoption and surrogacy support
- LGBTQ+ specific family planning resources
- Pregnancy and postpartum care
- Menopause support and education
Carrot also cites less invasive, less costly fertility options that improve employee outcomes and boost employer ROI.
Old: Standard 401(k) plans
New: Full-Service Financial Planning
With 73% of the country ranking financial worry as their #1 source of stress, it’s no surprise they’re carrying that mental burden into the workplace.
While standard retirement plans remain a powerful financial tool, forward-thinking employers are implementing even more comprehensive financial wellness programs that address both immediate concerns and long-term financial health.
Origin aims to cut down on employee stress, boost financial literacy, and increase productivity by combining personalized coaching with digital planning tools. Their platform offers:
- 1:1 employee coaching with a Certified Financial Planner™
- Saving & budgeting tools
- AI-powered guidance to answer any money questions
- Automated investment and portfolio tracking
- Yearly tax filing
- An online financial literacy hub with classes and content
Origin reports a 42% increase in 401(k) contributions, 23% increase in 529 plans and FSAs, as well as $5,600 saved in attrition per employee.
Old: Standard Financial Tools
New: Student Loan-Specific Support
Speaking of financial stress (see above): student loan payments are resuming and there is $1.7 trillion in outstanding debt. To mitigate this crisis, student loan benefits have become increasingly crucial for workforce stability. Over 78% of employees believe their employers should help with student loan debt, making this benefit particularly valuable for recruiting and retaining top talent.
Summer simplifies student loan management into a straightforward benefit that saves employees an average of $40K in payments. The platform integrates seamlessly with existing HR systems to minimize administrative burden, making it a simple, turnkey solution with outsized ROI.
Companies using Summer report a 20% reduction in turnover among enrolled employees. And with an average student loan forgiveness of $114,000, the financial relief and stress reduction for employees is undeniable.
Summer’s full range of student loan and educational assistance plans include:
Summer Save
The only end-to-end student loan and college savings platform guaranteed to reduce attrition by helping employees efficiently lower payments and achieve forgiveness.
Summer Boost
A seamless solution for providing tax-free contributions to your employees’ education–past, present, or future.
Summer Secure
A turnkey solution for rewarding your employees’ student loan payments with matching retirement contributions.
Visit meetsummer.com to learn more
Old: Discounted gym memberships
New: Flexible Wellness Stipends
Copious benefits are always good for employee wellness and satisfaction, but decision fatigue is still real. Instead of offering a constellation of benefits for a wide range of employee profiles and lifestages, many employers opt for “flexible wellness accounts,” a single source for benefits of employees’ choosing.
These are essentially streamlined stipends that give employees the flexibility to spend on whatever they need at a given time, from gym memberships to elder care..
In addition to traditional pre-and-post-tax spending accounts, providers such as Forma offer popular wellness categories like:
- Family planning, including adoption and fertility
- Continuing education
- Home office improvements
- Nutrition & meal planning
- Health, fitness & wellness
- Childcare
- Healthcare travel
- Financial planning
- Pet Insurance
Forma says one of their enterprise clients saved $500K in benefits admin after switching to Forma.
The Final Word: Implementation
With more ways to increase employee presence, satisfaction, and loyalty than ever, onboarding benefits can still be a barrier to delivering them. When searching for the next high-demand offering for your employees, look for providers that offer:
- Turnkey implementation processes
- Comprehensive employee support
- Clear success metrics
- Integration with existing systems
As employee needs evolve and the benefits landscape shifts, onboarding and implementation processes should be seamless on the backend and for individual users.
No matter which benefits you choose, the employee interface should feature simple enrollment, mobile accessibility, and ongoing support and education that maximizes enrollee satisfaction and your bottom line.
