Most HR Leaders Say Wellbeing Drives Output. Fewer Than Half Can Prove It.

Barcelona, 19 October 2026 — Nearly four in five HR professionals across the industry are convinced that spending on employee health and wellbeing translates directly into productivity. The trouble, according to a new survey unveiled in Barcelona, is that most of their organisations have no way of measuring whether that conviction holds.

The Barómetro AdQualis Tendencias RRHH 2026, presented in the Spanish city and reported by the news agency Europa Press on 19 October 2026, found that 81.5 percent of surveyed sector representatives regard health and wellbeing investment as a direct lever for productivity. Yet only 42.1 percent of the participating organisations track workforce wellbeing against clearly defined metrics — a gap between belief and evidence that runs through much of the study.

Recruitment pressure is reshaping the benefits package

The heightened attention to health arrives at a moment of acute staffing strain. Shortages of skilled workers were named as the central challenge by 63.2 percent of respondents. The same share — 63.2 percent — reported rising costs for recruitment and long-term retention.

Competition for applicants is visible in what employers put in their job adverts. Research by the Bertelsmann Stiftung found that postings carried an average of 3.6 extra benefits in 2019; by 2024 that figure had climbed to 9.6 per advertisement, with just 15 percent of listings offering none at all. A market study by Roland Berger put the average number of distinct benefits offered by surveyed companies at 6.6, deployed to attract skilled staff and keep satisfaction levels up.

Burnout risk and a generational shift in culture

Awareness of occupational health hazards is climbing alongside those incentives. According to AdQualis, 44.7 percent of respondents rate burnout and the failure to switch off digitally as growing threats to employees. Looking ahead, 86.8 percent expect the incoming Generation Z and Generation Alpha to exert a strong influence on corporate culture and management methods.

Cristián Sepúlveda of the company gâmio Healthtech argued in a 19 October 2026 report that workplace health programmes cannot be reduced to insurance costs and perks. Healthy working conditions, he said, bear directly on whether business strategy can be executed, on service quality and on the continuity of day-to-day operations.

Figures from the staffing firm Adecco illustrate how far overload can reach. Absenteeism cost the Spanish economy an estimated €59,109 million in 2025, while days lost to mental illness rose by 111 percent over a five-year period.

Succession planning and AI adoption lag behind intent

Structural gaps in HR processes emerge elsewhere in the AdQualis findings. Although 86.8 percent of respondents anticipate HR roles shifting toward change management and cultural work, 47.4 percent of companies have no structured succession plans; only 34.2 percent have such schemes in place.

On diversity, equity and inclusion, 81.6 percent see a driver of innovation, but just 57.9 percent have formulated firm policies. Technology shows a comparable mismatch: 92.1 percent expect automation through artificial intelligence to deliver noticeable time savings, yet only 23.7 percent currently use AI tools in operational HR management.