“Scaled-back benefits and skeleton teams will characterise 2025 as hiked-up taxes and the cost of implementing new employment rights force businesses – especially SMEs – to tighten purse strings. So, as employers focus on new, cost-effective ways to support stretched staff and protect them from the growing mental health crisis,burnout-proofing will take centre stage.
“Employers will shift from reacting to burnout to creating cultures and policies which proactively safeguard against it. Inspired by the government’s plans, many will introduce right-to-disconnect policies to improve staff’s work-life balance. Research from Breathe HR shows that most workers don’t take their full annual leave allowance. So, others will start encouraging staff to take more time off (which is important for wellbeing), using HR software to monitor when employees haven’t taken enough holiday. HR tech will also be increasingly relied upon to ensure compliance, and help teams drive through policy changes that will protect staff’s wellbeing and help them to thrive.”