FWD to HR
 | | | | |
| Click to get this newsletter weekly |
| |
|
|
| | Brought to you by Alex Panas, global leader of industries, & Axel Karlsson, global leader of functional practices and growth platforms
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| Top o’ the morn—year to ya! Or maybe the toast à votre santé (“to your health,” in French) is more appropriate. It probably comes as no surprise that health is often top of mind for the dedicated New Year’s resolutioner. This means that Gen Z may be ahead of the game because, for many Zoomers, health has been a hot-button topic all year long.
For example: throughout 2024, some Gen Zers sought to beat loneliness by making friends in their workout classes (two birds, et cetera) and were more likely than older workers to take mental health days to deal with stress, and Gen Z men finally started to mind their mental health. (Although they still lagged behind Gen Xers and boomers when it came to scheduling their annual physicals. Consider this a friendly reminder.) But even with mental health days and physicals, Zoomer women reported having the most difficulty prioritizing their health overall compared with women in any other generation, due to a number of factors, such as caregiving duties and a feeling of being overwhelmed in general.
This year, business leaders can adopt some resolutions of their own to improve their employees’ health (bonus: those that benefit Gen Zers will help older workers, too):
| | | | | Make mental health resources more accessible. The relationship between Gen Zer’s mental health and social media is complicated. According to research from McKinsey partner and coleader of the McKinsey Health Institute Erica Coe and coauthors, Gen Zers are more likely than other generations to have negative feelings about social media, but the technology also serves as a platform for their self-expression and social connectivity. To help Gen Zers undergo a mental health reset in 2025, employers can consider making digital resources, such as wellness apps and digital mental health programs, more accessible to employees. (Gen Zers are already more likely than older people to use social media to access mental health resources, making their adoption of other resources more likely.) As for addressing mental health and well-being beyond the digital realm, employers could offer stress management training, physical-wellness programs, office connectivity events, and policies to reduce burnout. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | |
—Edited by Alexandra Mondalek, editor, New York
| | |
| | | |
|
| Click to get this newsletter weekly |
| | |
|
|
Have feedback or other ideas? We’d love to hear from you. |
|
|
|
|
|
| | |
| |
|
|
|
Copyright © 2025 | McKinsey & Company, 3 World Trade Center, 175 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10007
|
|
| |
|
|
