A growing number of employees are holding back from sharing how they feel at work, despite ongoing concerns about stress and workload.
Around three in ten workers said they were reluctant to speak openly about their experiences, even as a significant proportion reported high levels of stress. The figures point to a disconnect between employer efforts to improve wellbeing and how employees experience workplace culture day to day.
Research from Culture Amp, an employee experience and performance management platform, also found notable differences between how men and women view key aspects of workplace wellbeing.
Gender gap in wellbeing linked to workplace experience
The data suggests women are consistently less positive than men across several measures linked to wellbeing and performance.
Fewer women said they felt able to take risks at work, while a smaller proportion reported that their role was challenging without being overwhelming. Women were also less likely to say they could take time off when unwell or that their organisation supported a healthy work-life balance.
The differences indicate that workplace conditions may not be experienced equally, with potential consequences for collaboration, engagement and the generation of new ideas.
The analysis suggests that when employees feel unable to speak openly or take risks, it can affect both individual wellbeing and wider organisational performance.
Trust in managers remains strong
Employees reported high levels of trust in their direct managers, with most saying support was available when needed.
But confidence in senior leadership is weaker and has declined in recent years. A smaller proportion of employees believe that leaders prioritise wellbeing, suggesting a gap between stated commitments and lived experience.
Justin Angsuwat, chief people and customer engagement officer at Culture Amp, said wellbeing was directly linked to performance outcomes.
“Wellbeing isn’t a side initiative. It’s a performance driver. When 30% of employees are holding back sharing how they really feel, and women feel less safe to take risks or are less supported in managing workload, it’s a culture issue. It’s a constraint on innovation, decision quality and sustainable performance.”
He said a gap between leadership messaging and employee experience was becoming more pronounced.
“Our data shows a perception gap between managers and senior leaders that continues to widen. People trust their manager, but they’re not confident that leadership prioritises wellbeing, and that gap in perception matters. When leaders say wellbeing is important but employees don’t experience it, then credibility erodes.”
Rethinking wellbeing as part of work design
The research suggests organisations may need to move beyond standalone wellbeing initiatives and focus more on how work itself is structured.
Angsuwat said improving wellbeing required more fundamental changes to how work is organised.
“And it’s not about adding more wellbeing programs; it’s about redesigning work itself — e.g., having clearer priorities and explicit permission to recover. If organisations want sustained performance, they need to treat wellbeing more like creating infrastructure than a one-off initiative.”
The data is drawn from Culture Amp’s global benchmarks, based on responses from millions of employees across thousands of organisations, tracking how workplace experience and engagement are evolving over time.
William Furney is a Managing Editor at Black and White Trading Ltd based in Kingston upon Hull, UK. He is a prolific author and contributor at Workplace Wellbeing Professional, with over 127 published posts covering HR, employee engagement, and workplace wellbeing topics. His writing focuses on contemporary employment issues including pension schemes, employee health, financial struggles affecting workers, and broader workplace trends.
- William Furney
- William Furney
- William Furney
- William Furney
