The proportion of employers investing in employee gift schemes has increased by 44%, according to research by CR Worldwide.
Its Rise of corporate wellness 2.0 report, which studied data from 120 large enterprises and 287,000 employees compiled in November 2019 and spanning three years, also found that UK companies spent an average of almost £7,000,000 in 2018/2019 on employee rewards, an increase of 31% from previous years.
The study also found that business travel incentives were on the rise, with two in 10 (22%) organisations spending an average of £3,100 per person, per trip.
Almost two-fifths (38%) now use automated real-time systems to track and reward employee performance.
David Gould, chief executive officer at CR Worldwide, said: “Employers have been investing in gyms or chill-out spaces in the workplace for a few years now, but new data shows that corporations are now increasingly investing in employee wellbeing outside the workplace by offering rewards from extra time off to company-sponsored jungle treks.
“This reinforces recent evidence of the widening scope of so-called ‘corporate wellness’ initiatives from employee counselling services to international retreats. The main drivers include a growing need to recruit a younger workforce that believes companies should care about their overall wellbeing, as well as the pressure to counter rising workplace stress, which has an impact on productivity.”