Corporate wellness programs have undergone a remake recently. What began with basic offerings like gym memberships and annual health screenings has evolved into sophisticated, tech-driven initiatives that now include therapeutic wearable devices designed to support employee health and wellbeing.

This comes at a time when many employees need mental health support that goes beyond traditional benefits. A survey of 1,000 U.S. workers by Inmar Intelligence found that only 25% have access to licensed therapy and just 40% are aware of an employee assistance program. Among the top three most desired benefits in the study group were stress management support and access to wellness apps.

Employers also recognize that poor employee mental health can hurt business performance. According to the World Health Organization, depression and anxiety cost the global economy $1 trillion each year, largely due to productivity losses. For HR leaders, this underscores the importance of designing wellness programs that support mental health and build workforce resilience.

Wearable wellbeing

Some corporate wellness programs include fitness devices that track physical metrics such as steps, sleep and heart rate. These wearables offer real-time feedback to employees and aggregated data to employers, enabling them to refine their wellness strategies. Employers often gamify these metrics, implementing step challenges and team competitions to boost participation. Fitbit Enterprise is one prominent example, with partnerships across major U.S. health plans and Medicare Advantage programs.

Researchers from Baylor University and California State University found that such traditional tracking devices have been effective in raising health awareness and encouraging better habits. However, they function largely as passive monitoring tools that require users to interpret data and take initiative themselves.

This limitation makes them less effective for managing real-time stress—one of the main productivity barriers in high-pressure environments. Notably, the researchers found that about one-third of users stop using wearable fitness devices within six months of purchase. This high abandonment rate makes it challenging for HR departments to maintain employee engagement with wellness programs and assess their effectiveness.

However, a new class of therapeutic wearables has emerged. These devices go beyond passive tracking, offering real-time interventions to support employees throughout the workday. They use various stimulation methods to trigger specific bodily responses that can reduce stress, improve focus or promote relaxation without requiring conscious effort from the user.

‘A new interface for health’

One example is Apollo Neuro, a wearable developed by neuroscientist and psychiatrist Dave Rabin. Created at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center to help veterans with PTSD, Apollo uses gentle vibrations to stimulate the vagus nerve, aiming to promote calm and focus without requiring users to step away from their tasks.

Today, it’s used by such high-performance organizations as Nike, Red Bull and the NFL.

“When you feel these vibrations,” Rabin notes, “you realize that you haven’t really experienced anything quite like this from your phone or smartwatch before. It’s a new interface for health and productivity.”

Rabin discovered that the stress response systems affecting trauma survivors are the same systems impacting everyday workers, just to a lesser extent. “The same circuits are involved,” he explains. “We just haven’t had tools to help regulate them—until now.”

Traditional employee wellness programs often fall short, says Rabin, because they demand significant time or effort from already overwhelmed employees. Apollo addresses this through what he calls bottom-up learning: “The body teaches the brain what calm feels like, rather than trying to instruct the mind into relaxation.”

He adds, “As soon as you quiet your mind, the first thing you hear is the noise of your mind. But this [tool] utilizes the body first, then brain second. Once you feel what it’s supposed to feel like, it makes it easier to get there.”

Another device, Sensate, uses infrasonic chest vibrations to stimulate the vagus nerve and reduce stress. Unlike meditation apps, Sensate is designed to function passively—even while an employee is working.

Emerging products like Earthing Mats are also entering the wellness conversation. While not wearable, these mats simulate contact with the Earth’s natural electrical field via conductive materials in contact with the user’s body. According to a report in The Journal of Inflammation Research, this may help regulate circadian rhythms and reduce inflammation.

A growing area of wellness research

While early scientific findings are encouraging, decision-makers should carefully weigh emerging technologies against established research to ensure meaningful outcomes, experts say. Several devices are beginning to show measurable benefits, offering a glimpse into how this new category may shape the future of workplace wellness.

Apollo Neuro has been studied in 16 trials with over 2,000 participants, including six peer-reviewed studies. Research from Rabin’s team suggests it may help reduce stress and anxiety, improve focus and increase sleep by 30 to 60 minutes per night. It may also deliver meditation-like benefits in less than five minutes.

Sensate’s own study found that daily use over two weeks reduced both perceived stress and anxiety. Participants also reported gaining more sleep per night and decreased time to fall asleep. By the end of the study, 68% of users said they felt “happy” often or almost always.

A 2025 study in Advances in Integrative Medicine found that “earthing” may reduce stress, improve insomnia symptoms and lessen daytime sleepiness. According to researchers, results indicated an increase in total sleep time and provided preliminary evidence that reducing stress responses can enhance sleep quality.

Wearable employee wellness: What HR needs to know

Some researchers express concern about employee privacy. “The reality of many novel medical technologies is that healthcare systems and their regulations were established before the advent of many of today’s most innovative medical products,” according to a study published in the journal Sensors.

The researchers went on to say that this gap is especially relevant given the rise of digital technologies and smart wearables, which are increasingly and seamlessly integrated into daily routines. Consequently, the authors warn, ongoing attention must be given to the evolution of legislation and regulatory frameworks.

These devices aren’t meant to replace traditional fitness trackers; they’re designed to complement them. While fitness trackers help monitor long-term health, therapeutic wearables address immediate stressors. Results may vary, but their integration could enhance an organization’s overall employee wellness strategy, according to the products’ founders.

As Rabin puts it: “If you only limit your health and wellness to when you’re not at work, then there’s limited time left to do that for yourself. This allows more of a seamless integration where you don’t have to take 20 minutes out to meditate at work.”