Corporate wellness spending is booming. Companies are investing in meditation apps, nap pods and resilience trainings, all aimed at reducing stress and improving employee well-being.

However, according to the American Psychological Associate, 77 percent of U.S. workers still report experiencing workplace stress and Mercer reports that 82 percent say they’re at risk of burnout. 

The problem is not a lack of programming. It’s that the programs rarely touch what actually causes stress. As Fast Company reports, too many firms treat wellness like a perk and not a practice. They brand it for recruitment, check boxes with monthly challenges and then return to business as usual. But if employees are still overloaded, micromanaged or stuck in unclear roles, it’s uncertain whether yoga classes are helping. 

Employees can tell when a wellness initiative is surface-level. While 81 percent of employers say their wellness offerings are effective, only 61 percent of employees disagree. That disconnect highlights a larger issue: that wellness programs are symbolic, but not structural. 

The most effective interventions involve managers being trained to recognize burnout, expectations being recalibrated and workloads being realistically resourced. They involve organizations asking not how employees can be more resilient, but why they’re being asked to recover so often in the first place.