57% of Canadian companies offer fewer health and wellness programs than 5 years ago

• Workers cite food at office celebrations as the biggest obstacle to achieving wellness objectives
• 30% of professionals say they eat healthier when they work from home
• 76% of employees bring their lunch to the office

TORONTO, Jan. 10, 2018 /CNW/ - Companies that aren't focusing on employee health and wellness should make it a New Year's resolution. In a recent survey from staffing firm OfficeTeam, more than half of Canadian HR managers (57%) reported their organization has decreased their health and wellness offerings in the past five years.

HR managers were also asked to name the most innovative thing they've heard of a company doing to support employee health and wellness. Here are some of their responses:

Don't overlook health and wellness programs for workers. (CNW Group/OfficeTeam)

• Offering onsite exercise, meditation, yoga and healthy cooking classes
• Providing free massages
• Having trained healthcare providers in the office
• Providing additional days off for mental health
• Offering onsite personal trainers
• Contributing healthy onsite snack and meal options

"As expectations for workplace well-being evolve, companies have an opportunity to significantly impact their employees' overall health and happiness at work," said Koula Vasilopoulos, a district president for OfficeTeam. "Organizations that make wellness a priority, and empower staff with resources that encourage healthy-living at and outside the office, ultimately promote an attractive work environment, and a more productive and loyal workforce."

Additional findings:

• Employees cited food at office celebrations (29%) and snacks brought in by colleagues (26%) as the biggest obstacles to meeting health and wellness goals.
• Nearly a third of professionals (30%) said they eat healthier when they work from home. Of all respondent groups, male employees (37%) and those ages 18 to 34 (32%) reported this most often.
• More than three-quarters of professionals (76%) bring their lunch to the office. Women (82%) were more likely than men to pack their meals.
• While more than a third of employees (36%) are fans of the office candy jar, the same percentage have a love-hate relationship with it. Workers ages 18 to 34 (43%) are especially enthusiastic about this supply of sweets.

About the Research
The surveys of workers and HR managers were developed by OfficeTeam. They were conducted by independent research firms and include responses from more than 300 HR managers at Canadian companies with 20 or more employees and more than 1,000 Canadian workers 18 years of age or older.

About OfficeTeam
OfficeTeam, a Robert Half company, is the nation's leading staffing service specializing in the temporary placement of highly skilled office and administrative support professionals. The company has 300 locations worldwide. For additional information, visit roberthalf.ca/officeteam. Follow @RobertHalf_CAN on Twitter and the OfficeTeam blog at roberthalf.com/officeteam/blog for career and management advice.

SOURCE OfficeTeam

Naz Araghian, 416.865.2140, [email protected]