Good health must be a priority and we have learnt the lesson in a hard way. In these tough times, our myopic views on careers, lives have changed drastically. After seeing the glaring shortcomings of the healthcare infrastructure, global corporate majors and investors are keenly looking at future opportunities.

Earlier, we looked into how the e-health market will grow and the minimally invasive surgery segment is poised to grow in the coming years. While many fragments in this ecosystem are lagging behind, few are showing a drastic change in the hour of crisis. One being the corporates’ health & wellness programs segment.

Till now, corporates have been fulfilling the quota of health insurance benefits for their employees under these programs, but today these programs are much more evolved. Starting from Fitness program to regular health-check-ups, nutrition and weight management, stress management, companies are looking at an array of services. Further, with the strike of the pandemic, these programs are now increasingly gaining demand as corporates are partnering with these focused platforms and beefing up their employee-focused programs and are assisting their employees to avail the benefits in real-time now. Here we have captured how this industry is changing for the better.

1. Corporate health & wellness programs cover only 72 million employees

Workforce in India covered under employee wellness programs

A mere 15% of the total workforce is covered under such programs. 405 million employees across sectors are still not part of such corporate programs. This shows there is a long way ahead of such programs. As there is a direct correlation between health and performance, organizations must look into ways to increase the reach of such programs and how to move the needle on employee well-being.

2. Current Indian market is 55K Cr

Total Corporate Health and wellness market by services & sector, FY 2020-21, % share of segment

The corporate health and wellness market in India includes various sectors like manufacturing, BFSI, logistics, agriculture, trading among other industries. Agriculture has the maximum share among others while BFSI has the lowest.

On the other hand, the corporate programs include health insurance, telemedicine, pharmacy access, gym access and health check-ups. These programs assist in a way to avail these services. For instance, a company may provide gym discounts or reimbursements, pharmacy discounts or reimbursements among others.

3. Post covid, the corporate health insurance is expected to grow at 20%

Group Health Insurance Market, INR ‘000 Cr

With increased focus on healthcare especially after the second wave of Covid-19, the insurance segment is expected to grow with a growth rate of 20% by 2025 while demand for insurance with OPD services is also increasing.

Coverage for pharmacy bills, diagnostics test, outpatient dental treatment and health check-up are some of the area wherein companies are keenly looking at.

4. Employees’ increasing attention on health are driving corporates to focus on health & wellness programs

Corporate Wellness Market, INR ‘000 Cr

The corporates who preferably work with younger generations, are also increasingly looking at these programs now, since the youngsters are becoming conscious about lifestyle diseases and are engaging themselves with varying physical activities. Tweaking company policies to suit the need of the employees, helps organizations recruit faster, the right talent and also sees lower attrition.

India’s telemedicine market is currently ~INR 7K Cr. The segment is now seeing more traction as people are adopting it faster as they are reluctant to risk and physically visit a doctor.

With preventive health care moving today’s employee’s attention, currently gym access has ~0.4Mn corporate subscription and is growing at a growth rate of 20-25%.

5. New age platforms are able to address the entire spectrum of employee welfare via third party

Companies and Offerings across services

The market is dominated by a number of players including Practo, CureFit, Ekincare, Apollo, MediBuddy among others. These companies are increasingly fulfilling the entire spectrum of scope including health insurance, check-ups, gym, mental wellness, health coaching and online consultations.

With the impact of Covid lingering with us for the coming years, companies will inevitably look at more of such programs to enhance and build a stronger thriving work culture for their employees.