MediBuddy and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) have unveiled the third edition of their workplace health report, Workplace Health Reimagined: India’s Health AI Frontier — Building for Bharat, Leading the World. According to the report’s findings, employees who completed 3 annual health check-ups recorded a hospitalisation rate of 2.41%, compared with 7.27% among those who attended none, a nearly 3X difference associated with regular preventive screening.
The report also revealed a significant concentration of healthcare costs among employees who disengage from preventive care. Although only 25% of employees skipped every annual health check-up, this group accounted for 46% of all inpatient hospitalisation claims and 43% of total insurance payouts, highlighting the disproportionate financial impact of delayed diagnosis and treatment. The report combines independent research with MediBuddy’s proprietary analysis of 10,551 employees, one of workplace health evidence studies.
Other key findings include:
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52% of employees across corporate India never take action after a health check as they received no personalised guidance, follow-up call, prioritised referral, or reminder at the right moment.
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20.34% of all pharmacy dispensations are cardiac medications, highlighting cardiovascular disease as one of the largest ongoing health burdens among corporate employees, with sudden cardiac deaths rising among working professionals aged between 30 to 40 years.
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HbA1c for Diabetes is now MediBuddy’s fourth most-requested diagnostic test among corporate employees.
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Four Generations, Four Different Health Crises: Corporate India now has four to five generations in its workforce simultaneously, each with a distinct primary health risk, engagement style and expectation of workplace health support.
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Gen Z (~30% of India workforce): Mental health + low AHC participation; only 47% attend annual health check-ups, while 90% of employees under 25 report anxiety symptoms, highlighting high awareness but low action.
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Millennials (Largest segment: 35-40% of India workforce): Burnout + rising non-communicable diseases (chronic conditions that do not spread from person to person) onset; 35% feel stressed all or most of the time, with cardiovascular and metabolic conditions increasingly emerging in their 40s.
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Gen X (20-25% of workforce): Highest caregiver burden, balancing ageing parents and teenage children, making elder care EAP a growing retention issue, while perimenopause and menopause remain the most underserved health transitions in corporate India today.
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Baby Boomers (5-10% of active workforce): Chronic condition management. Managing 2+ chronic conditions on average, they have the highest per-employee medical claims, while 79% of employees globally have delayed healthcare in the past two years, increasing the risk of hospitalisation from unmanaged conditions.
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Gen Alpha (entering the workforce from 2028-30): Today’s investments in AI-enabled AHC and digital health infrastructure will become Gen Alpha’s baseline expectation.
The findings highlight that the challenge is not just getting employees to participate in health programmes, but ensuring they receive sustained support after health risks are identified. The report highlights the need for a personalised, life-stage-based wellness programme rather than one-size-fits-all initiatives.
The productivity cost
The most significant financial impact of poor employee health lies beyond insurance claims—in productivity that is never realised. Poor employee mental health is estimated to cost Indian employers ₹1.1 lakh crore annually. Presenteeism—employees being at work but unable to perform at full capacity—accounts for ₹51,000 crore of this cost, while absenteeism contributes another ₹14,000 crore. The remaining cost is associated with attrition, long-term disability and loss of institutional knowledge.
The report also highlights that disengaged, burned-out teams show 17% lower productivity than engaged teams. Nearly half of Indian employees are actively seeking new jobs, with stress and burnout among the leading reasons, further widening the business impact of poor workforce health.
Satish Kannan, Co-founder and CEO, MediBuddy said, “For years, organisations measured the success of workplace wellness through participation—how many employees attended a health camp or completed a health check-up. The data now tells us that’s no longer enough.
“At MediBuddy, we believe health is not simply a benefit to be administered. It is a strategic capability that shapes productivity, resilience, innovation, and long-term performance. As India’s workforce evolves and artificial intelligence transforms healthcare, organisations have an opportunity to move beyond episodic wellness initiatives towards continuous, personalised, and preventive care,” Kannan said.
A framework for measuring workplace health maturity
To help organisations address this challenge, the report introduces the Workplace Health Maturity Curve, a framework that measures how effectively organisations manage employee health—from reactive, claims-driven healthcare to preventive, personalised and AI-enabled health ecosystems.
Data from 459 corporate benefits analysed across seven industries found that 73% remain at the two lowest maturity stages—Break-Fix and Benefit Listed. Fewer than 2% have reached the highest level, Strategic Health Enterprise, where workforce health is integrated into business strategy and supported by predictive, personalised interventions. IT and ITeS organisations showed the greatest progress. They accounted for all organisations at the highest maturity level and nearly all those classified as Outcome-Led.
Healthcare & Pharma is the most bottom-heavy of the seven, with 46% of organisations still at Break-Fix despite the sector’s own clinical expertise. Consulting & Professional Services shows the strongest Risk-Aware concentration (47%) but almost no movement beyond it — a sector that is aware but not yet acting. Logistics & Transport is the most homogenous, with 88% of organisations clustered at Benefit Listed and no presence at Risk-Aware or above.
Closing the last-mile gap
India has established digital health capabilities at population scale, with more than 90 crore ABHA accounts and over 43 crore consultations delivered through eSanjeevani. In February 2026, the country also launched SAHI, a national governance framework for AI in healthcare, and BODH, a platform for validating health AI models using Indian data.
However, these capabilities have yet to reach employees consistently in the workplace. Applying AI to personalised health journeys, proactive follow-ups, early risk identification and continuous employee engagement can help bridge the gap between health screening and treatment.
Preventive, personalised and AI-enabled healthcare is also becoming a talent lever. For Millennials and Gen Z, wellbeing increasingly shapes where they work and whether they stay—linking workplace health directly to engagement, retention and productivity. Mental health is moving upstream from crisis response to prevention, while women’s health and financial wellness are becoming core priorities.
The report’s Holistic Wellness Stack extends workplace health beyond annual check-ups, consultations and insurance claims to include yoga and mindfulness, fitness, weight management, vision care, maternity support and elder care. It reflects a broader shift towards caring for the whole person across every stage of life and career. The new benchmark for workplace health is not participation, but measurable improvement in employee health outcomes.
