UK searches for workplace wellbeing programmes, manager mental health training and EAP services have fallen sharply, according to analysis from New Leaf Health. While search behaviour alone cannot show whether employers are reducing support, the trend comes as work-related stress, depression and anxiety continue to account for millions of lost working days.
Google searches for a range of workplace mental health and wellbeing support have declined year-on-year, according to analysis by workplace wellbeing provider New Leaf Health.
Searches for ‘corporate wellness programs’ fell by 72% year-on-year, while ‘employee wellbeing initiatives’ dropped by 71%. Searches for ‘workplace health checks’ were down 57% and ‘mental health training for managers’ fell by 56%.
The analysis also found a 46% decline in searches for ‘EAP service’, while searches for ‘workplace stress policy’ fell by 40%.
New Leaf Health analysed UK Google search volumes over a 12-month period, with the analysis conducted in September 2025.
However, falling search volumes do not necessarily mean employers are withdrawing wellbeing provision or investment. Changes in terminology, established relationships with providers and the growing use of generative AI to find information could all affect Google search behaviour.
Indeed, other research presents a more nuanced picture. The CIPD’s 2025 Health and Wellbeing at Work research found mental health remained a focus of health and wellbeing activity for 89% of organisations surveyed. Research from employee benefits specialist Everywhen, published in 2026, also found that employee mental health remained employers’ leading wellbeing concern.
Workplace mental health pressure remains high
What is clearer is the continuing scale of work-related mental ill health.
Health and Safety Executive figures show that 964,000 workers experienced work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2024/25, resulting in 22.1 million lost working days.
These conditions accounted for 52% of all work-related ill health and 62% of all working days lost due to work-related ill health.
Meanwhile, the CIPD and Simplyhealth’s 2025 Health and Wellbeing at Work research found that sickness absence had reached an average of 9.4 days per employee per year – the highest level recorded in more than 15 years.
Mental ill health was the leading cause of long-term absence, cited by 41% of employers among their top three causes.
The findings strengthen the case for employers to focus on prevention as well as support once employees become unwell. The CIPD has previously urged employers to invest in preventative approaches to sickness absence, including manager training, flexible working and adjustments to workload.
From wellbeing provision to prevention
New Leaf Health’s analysis also points to declining search interest in some of the infrastructure designed to help organisations identify and address problems earlier.
Searches for ‘how to prevent burnout at work’ fell by 50%, while searches relating to mental health training for managers declined by more than half.
The findings come amid a wider debate about whether workplace wellbeing is sufficiently embedded in how organisations operate. Workplace leaders have increasingly argued that benefits and individual interventions cannot compensate for problems with workload, job design, management or organisational culture – an issue explored recently in relation to embedding health and wellbeing into everyday working practices.
Manager capability is an important part of that picture. The CIPD recommends ongoing guidance and training to help line managers have sensitive conversations, recognise problems and signpost employees to expert support.
Employers are also facing greater scrutiny over how they manage work-related stress. The HSE has set out more explicitly what it expects organisations to do, including through new guidance on spot-check inspections, raising the importance of managing workplace stress as an organisational risk.
Where does AI fit?
New Leaf Health suggests that some of the fall in conventional Google searches could reflect people increasingly turning to generative AI tools for information.
However, the provider argues that employers should distinguish between using AI to access general information and providing formal workplace health infrastructure, including professional counselling, EAP services and appropriately trained managers.
“An AI tool cannot train a line manager to spot acute distress or replace confidential employee counselling,” New Leaf Health said.
The organisation warned that reducing access to professional support could increase the risk of burnout and long-term ill health, while contributing to sickness absence, reduced productivity and higher staff turnover.
As employers explore the potential role of AI in workplace health and wellbeing, the challenge will be to use emerging technology appropriately without allowing it to become a substitute for professional support or action on the workplace factors contributing to poor mental health.
With World Mental Health Day taking place on 10 October, the findings provide a timely prompt for employers to examine not simply what support they offer, but whether prevention, manager capability and mental health risk management are embedded in their wider approach to work.
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