A major new national wellbeing report has revealed that both psychosocial risks at work and personal health challenges are significantly affecting the mental health, physical health and performance of New Zealand workers — with as many as one in four employees experiencing key risks that undermine productivity and wellbeing.
The Annual Report 2026, released by Umbrella and Geneva Wellbeing, analysed data from more than 11,000 working New Zealanders collected from 2022–2025. This report examines how work design, behavioural health, and psychological factors interact to shape worker outcomes across Aotearoa.
Psychosocial risks rising sharply across NZ workplaces
The report shows that employees continue to face a wide range of work‑related psychosocial challenges, with the most common including:
- Poor change consultation (28%)
- High workload (21%)
- Psychological wellbeing not prioritised at work (19%)
- Poor manager support (13%)
- People not supported to lead a healthy lifestyle in workplace (11.9%)
These risks are strongly linked to poor mental health, low role clarity, reduced engagement and higher distress. Notably, poor manager support and personal harassment in the form of unkind words and behaviour were among the strongest predictors of high psychological distress and low wellbeing – increasing the odds by more than three times.
These risks have measurable consequences. According to Dr Dougal Sutherland, Principal Psychologist at Umbrella, “This year’s report makes one thing clear: work design has a powerful influence on people’s wellbeing. When factors like workload, role clarity and support aren’t right, we see a measurable impact on mental health and performance across thousands of workers. The good news is these are all things organisations can change. By improving how work is structured, leaders can make a meaningful difference to both wellbeing and productivity.”
Health behaviours matter – but psychosocial factors matter more
The report found that physical health challenges also play a critical role in employee wellbeing., the top reported health challenges included:
- Not getting enough good quality sleep (23%)
- Not engaging in moderate exercise (22%)
- Not getting enough leisure/relaxation time (21%)
While the data shows that both psychosocial risks at work and personal health challenges significantly predict outcomes such as psychological distress, job performance, and flourishing – work challenges explain a greater amount.
The wellbeing paradox: more investment, same results
Despite growing investment in wellbeing programmes nationwide, employee mental health is not improving at the rate expected. This “wellbeing paradox” is explored in the report, which warns that many initiatives miss the mark because they fail to address systemic work issues such as workload, role clarity, peer support and psychological safety.
A shift from ‘fixing the worker’ to ‘fixing the work’
The 2026 report strongly advocates for a national shift toward psychosocial risk management, redesigning work systems, and preventing harm at its source. This includes:
- Balancing demands with adequate support
- Improving job design and clarity
- Creating psychologically safe environments
- Equipping leaders to recognise early indicators and warning signs of risk
- Integrating both physical and psychosocial risk controls
These solutions also directly enhance team performance – the same actions that reduce harm also unlock high‑performing teams, creating sustainable productivity rather than burnout‑driven output.
A message to employers: Start with what you can control
The report urges organisations to prioritise systemic work‑related changes first:
“If an organisation wants to start small and start somewhere, begin with what’s most within your control – the work environment itself. Work design, clarity, culture and support systems.