For decades, the dominant model for workplace mental health was simple: wait for a crisis, then respond. Employee Assistance Programs (or EAPs) existed to be a safety net for employees in crisis. And for a long time, that was considered enough. Today, leading organizations know better.
Every year, a growing number of Fortune 500 companies make the decisive shift away from reactive models of mental health support toward prevention-first care that reaches employees before problems escalate. What these companies realize is, they see far greater returns – across numerous meaningful business and clinical metrics – from a proactive EAP than when they go with a traditional or digital EAP. With faster access to care and improved care navigation, proactive EAPs prevent the downstream costs of more expensive and more frequent clinical care and higher insurance premiums.
In this blog, we’ll explore why prevention is the new standard for workplace mental health support among the world’s most successful companies, what it delivers for employees and businesses alike, and how you can begin measuring its impact in your own organization.
The hidden costs of existing mental health support models
Before we can make the case for prevention, we have to reckon honestly with what happens when it’s absent: employee wellbeing falls through the cracks, and everyone pays a price. Without consistent preventive action to establish healthy cultural norms and nudge employees toward mental health care the moment they need it, issues compound. Their stress becomes chronic, their engagement deteriorates, as does their overall health, and the likelihood of burnout balloons. Each of these issues affect productivity, organizational culture, and the bottom line.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that depression and anxiety cost the global economy $1 trillion every year in lost productivity alone. But productivity is not the lone cost. As shown in 2021 research from the National Safety Council and NORC at the University of Chicago, employees with significant mental health concerns use an additional $3,000 worth of healthcare services per year than those in positive states of mental health.
A 2024 computational model published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine also found that burnout costs employers an average of $3,999 per year for hourly workers and up to $20,683 for executives. The same research found that disengagement and burnout result in significant backend fees, costing employers up to 17x the usual cost of training per employee – a figure that rarely appears in any budget conversation. The health outcomes research firm inZights Consulting found similarly large numbers. In its 2025 analysis of the impact of Journey Proactive EAP versus traditional models, the researchers found that companies with traditional EAPs identify mental health risk 12 months too late, costing over $4,000 per employee from work absences and lost productivity before care begins, compared to our proactive approach – a number corroborated by Gallup research.
Turnover and presenteeism are more hidden drains. According to McKinsey Health Institute’s global survey, employees facing a mental health challenge – nearly 60% of workers – are 4x more likely to want to leave their organization. When they do, it costs an average of $5,733 per employee per year. Presenteeism flies even more under the radar: employees show up, but their focus, decision-making, and creativity are quietly diminished. Most organizations never measure or realize what they’re losing to it.
Why Fortune 500 companies are moving to prevention-first mental health support models
With an increasing scope of costs adding up in the background, forward-thinking organizations are no longer choosing to wait for the next crisis to provide support. They’ve recognized that the real return on investment in mental health comes from helping employees stay well in the first place – a return of as much as $4 for every $1 spent, according to the WHO.
That ROI comes from a few areas:
1. Engagement and Performance
Mental health and performance are inseparable. Employees who feel well are more focused, more creative, and more capable of doing their best work. In this way, as Lisa Schoenhaus, Benefits and Wellbeing Manager at the global design company Arup, shared in Journey CEO Stephen Sokoler’s book, The Mental Health Advantage, “investing in mental health is an investment in the company’s success.”
Gallup research reinforces this: highly engaged teams achieve 21% higher profitability. Benefits programs that proactively and consistently engage employees with their mental health pave the way for the kind of focus and clarity that produces results.
2. Retention
Talent retention is one of the most concrete returns on a prevention-first mental health investment. The 2025 Mental Health at Work Report from Mind Share Partners found that employees at companies that actively support mental health are twice as likely to report no burnout, depression, or anxiety. Importantly, those employees are 3x more likely to trust their company and its leadership, and 2x as likely to intend to stay.
The savings are significant: a 500-person company that prioritizes prevention in mental health sees an average burnout rate of 27%, compared to 47% for companies that don’t. That 20-point percentage gap translates to an estimated $1.7 million in annual savings, according to Mental Health Research Canada.
3. Culture and Talent Acquisition
Culture is harder to quantify, but no less critical. More than three-quarters of job seekers now consider company culture before applying for a role. Organizations with strong mental health cultures signal to employees and prospective employees that their wellbeing is a shared responsibility, not a personal burden to manage alone, leading to higher engagement and connection at work. Thus, those with well-designed, well-integrated mental health programs that include modern, proactive EAPs are more likely to be seen as employers of choice.
4. Resilience
Resilience is crucial in the workplace. Having resilience helps employees navigate change and challenge, rise after failure, and sustain performance through difficulty. Prevention-first mental health programs actively create the conditions for individual and organizational resilience over time by offering tools for stress management, self-care, and even resilience-building explicitly.
5. Healthcare Cost Savings
Employees with positive wellbeing and mental health typically have lower expenditures for mental healthcare; better physical health and, thus, fewer claims; and greatly reduced use of high-cost, inpatient care. Preventing mental health challenges and intervening early with a proactive approach also prevents high-cost needs and escalation. The 2025 inZights Consulting analysis showed that engaging with Journey Proactive EAP prevented an average of 17 high-cost clinical visits per at-risk employee per year, resulting in roughly $5,000 savings per employee.
Two real-life examples in practice
Two Journey clients illustrate what this initial shift looks like at scale.
Micron Technology, a global semiconductor manufacturer with more than 46,000 employees across 17 countries, recognized that their previous EAP was falling short. It ran on outdated technology, had a limited provider network, and offered resources that didn’t reflect the diversity of their global workforce – 78% of which is based in Asia and the Pacific. “We were looking for a real partner – a team we could lean on, with better technology than we had before,” said Marni McDowell, Senior Director of Global Wellbeing and Experience.
After implementing Journey Proactive EAP in 2024, Micron tripled their EAP engagement rate compared to their previous provider. “Our preventive engagement is higher with Journey than it ever was previously, because the platform is so much better, more engaging, and more accessible than our past EAP partners,” said Susi Lendvay, Senior Manager of Team Member Advocacy.
Regeneron, a global biotechnology and pharmaceutical company with over 15,000 employees in 14 countries, identified a different issue: the majority of their workforce wasn’t in crisis, but they weren’t being served by their existing EAP either. “Most people aren’t in crisis, but most of us do want to feel better, manage everyday stress more effectively, and thrive at a higher level,” said Meredith Marlin, VP of Total Rewards. Cultural relevance was another driving factor: Micron needed a global partner who could deliver multilingual content relevant to employees across the globe.
After implementing Journey Proactive EAP, Regeneron achieved 54% employee engagement with preventive mental health tools – more than 18 times the 2–3% rate typical of traditional EAPs. “Navigation to resources and ease of access is a common barrier that prevents people from seeking help in the first place. Journey, through its unified one front door, helps to get the right care to the right people at the right time,” said Marlin. “Our employees have really gravitated to the platform.”
Both companies arrived at prevention-first care from different starting points. But both found the same thing: when support is proactive, accessible, and culturally relevant, employees engage and the organization benefits.
How to measure ROI for mental health benefits
Typically, ROI for healthcare benefits has focused on utilization rates, upfront healthcare spend, and insurance claims. Looking for ROI with a prevention-based mental health support model requires a new measurement framework.
Here’s where to focus your attention so you can monitor ROI in the near and long term:
- Clinical outcomes — Track scores on validated assessments like the PHQ-9 (depression), GAD-7 (anxiety), and Outcomes Rating Scale (ORS). Improvement in these scores over time is one of the clearest indicators that your program is working.
- Engagement metrics — Measure both awareness (how many employees know about available support) and utilization (how many are actively using preventive resources). On average, fewer than 20% of employees are aware of their company’s mental health benefits, and only 2–3% engage with traditional EAPs. Proactive programs meaningfully exceed this baseline: Journey Proactive EAP clients consistently achieve an average of 30% engagement or higher.
- Absenteeism and presenteeism — Track mental health–related absences over time. Effective programs reduce missed days; Journey’s clinical study with Humana showed a 51% reduction in absenteeism among program participants. Presenteeism is harder to measure but worth building proxy metrics around: team output, error rates, and employee self-reported focus levels.
- Healthcare costs — Successful proactive programs typically reduce mental health–related medical claims, prescription costs, and total healthcare spend. These are metrics to monitor year over year.
- Turnover rates — Monitor voluntary turnover alongside mental health engagement data. As mental health support and engagement improve, lower turnover should follow.
- Cultural indicators — Quarterly pulse surveys, employee satisfaction scores, and measures of psychological safety give you a picture of how your mental health culture is evolving. Are mental health conversations becoming more normalized? Do employees feel safe discussing challenges with managers? Are mental health resources being recommended peer-to-peer?
Prevention is a business strategy
The data on whether mental health matters in the workplace is unambiguous: burnout, disengagement, and poor mental health cost companies enormously, yet most of those costs are preventable.
The companies leading the charge with a prevention-first mental health approach treat mental health as a foundational performance strategy just as much as a healthcare prerogative. And they’re seeing bona fide results across their organizations and balance sheets alike.
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Interested in learning how Journey’s Proactive EAP can help your organization make this shift? Request a demo today.
