Gone are the days when a bean bag and free kombucha made your office cool.
Todays top tech talent wants something far more valuable: their health.
This transition will not only transform employment perks, but also create a new tech market.
Engelens vision draws on deep experience.
Across three decades in healthcare, his work has spanned acute care, ambulance services, and dispatch centres.
He also delivers 100 keynotes a year across the globe about the subject.
These roles revealed a fundamental flaw in conventional treatment.
Weve built a sick care system, not a healthcare system, he says.
For Engelen, the fix is obvious.
We need to shift the focus from treating illnesses to preventing them.
And employers have a crucial role to play.
Ahead of the event, he shared a glimpse of what to expect.
Illness, stress, and long waits for medical care drain their productivity and availability.
If it takes eight weeks to get a consultation, thats eight weeks of lower productivity, Engelen notes.
To stay ahead, forward-thinking employers are getting proactive.
Instead of waiting for health problems to arise, theyre offering services that can prevent them.
Technology is rapidly expanding the possibilities.
As Engelen says, Were all fishing in the same bucket of talent.
To attract that talent, he urgesemployers to apply a broader concept of wellbeing.
Its not only about your physical health.
Theres also your mental health, and even your social health and financial health.
Gradually, this holistic model is shaping modernworkplaces.
Deloitte research found that UK organisations investing in mental health support see an average return offive to one.
The benefits could be especially impactful for younger workers.
Digital services offer promising solutions.
Yet they also introduce new challenges.
The challenge now for companies is offering solutions without sacrificing their privacy.
This growing focus on employee wellbeing also has powerful potential fortechfirms.
Engelen envisions a new market emerging for them.
Well see an increase in Big Tech closing big contracts with big corporates, he says.
For tech companies, this is a lucrative opportunity.
The same is true for employers.
The future of wellbeing in the workplace
The benefits of healthy workplaces are well-established.
Researchers have found that the ROI on employee wellness programscan besix to one.
Accessibility to digital wellbeing is also set to increase.
Integration layers are connecting more and more healthcare apps, creating new approaches to medical care.
By embracing wellbeing tech, Engelen believes employers can accelerate a shift from reactive healthcare to proactive prevention.
The technology is already there, he says.
Whats changing is how were using it.
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Story byThomas Macaulay
Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.
He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.
Away from work, he e(show all)Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.
He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.
Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse).
