By Janicia Koh, Chief Strategy Officer – Aktivo Labs.
Last week, some of the biggest names in insurance and preventive digital health technology gathered in London to discuss the evolving role of insurers as health caretakers.
It’s a topic gaining broad attention – driven largely by a growing recognition that healthcare cannot remain the sole responsibility of traditional providers.
One concept gaining traction across industries is federated healthcare, a collaborative model that acknowledges the shared responsibility of governments, insurers, employers, and individuals in maintaining population health.
As the scale and impact of the longevity crisis become more widely understood, it is increasingly accepted – much like climate change – as a global challenge requiring collective action.
For policymakers and healthcare providers, the intersection of extended life expectancy and rising rates of chronic disease has long been a pressing issue. However, for employers with substantial human capital, this is unfamiliar terrain. The financial burden of an aging workforce, higher healthcare costs, and declining productivity is no longer a distant concern – it is a reality already affecting balance sheets.
With traditional ‘sick care’ models proving unsustainable, governments and healthcare providers are shifting toward preventive health strategies.
Boards, CEOs, and CFOs need only look at their organization’s financials to see the business case for undertaking their own employee-focused, preventive health initiative. Rising health insurance costs, increased workers’ compensation claims, absenteeism, and significant investments in force-multiplying technologies all underscore the scale of the longevity challenge – and the need for a shift in mindset.
Employers that embrace AI-enabled, personalized employee wellness models—and recognize them not as a discretionary expense but as a core component of a comprehensive enterprise risk management strategy – will be best positioned to mitigate financial losses while unlocking long-term workforce resilience and productivity gains.
Moreover, it’s a question of resilience
By 2050, the global population of individuals aged 60 and older is expected to double, reaching 2.1 billion—a seismic demographic shift with profound economic and operational consequences. At the same time, the World Health Organization (WHO) projects that non-communicable diseases—such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and musculoskeletal disorders—will account for 86% of an estimated 90 million annual deaths.
This convergence, often referred to as the longevity crisis, silver wave, or gray tsunami, is not just a healthcare challenge—it is a workforce sustainability issue.
In industries reliant on skilled labor and knowledge workers, failing to address the realities of an aging workforce and declining well-being will lead to lower productivity, rising healthcare costs, and critical talent shortages.
For employers in sectors such as transportation, public safety, construction, education, financial services, and—ironically—healthcare, investing in comprehensive employee wellness programs is no longer a discretionary perk; it is a strategic necessity.
Research shows that workplace wellness initiatives can yield a return on investment of up to 6:1, reducing absenteeism, enhancing employee engagement, and strengthening overall workforce resilience.
Conversely, organizations that fail to act will face mounting medical costs, declining performance and an accelerating talent gap as experienced workers exit the workforce prematurely due to preventable health issues.
The businesses that recognize this demographic shift and proactively integrate wellness into their long-term workforce strategies will not only cultivate a healthier, more adaptable workforce but also build a foundation for sustained operational resilience and financial stability.
If employee, community or portfolio resilience is a priority for your organization, I invite you to connect. I am very happy to learn about your challenges and share more about your options.
Industries at a tipping point
In last month’s article, Breaking Down: The Health Crisis Set to Gridlock America’s Trucking Industry, we offered a glimpse into how the longevity crisis can disrupt vital industries. Here, I’d like to turn the focus to other highly vulnerable sectors where similar challenges are emerging.
These industries are indicative of many more confronting unprecedented pressures—from rising healthcare costs and recruitment hurdles to shifts in physical demands on an aging workforce.
Public Safety: Sustaining a Ready and Resilient Workforce
The defense and public safety sectors are at a critical tipping point. These industries rely heavily on physically capable, highly trained personnel to ensure operational readiness and national security.
- Recruitment and Retention Challenges: Military forces, law enforcement, and emergency response agencies face mounting difficulties in recruiting and retaining a fit and resilient workforce.
- Increased Physical Demands: As recovery times from injuries lengthen and healthcare costs rise, the physical demands on existing personnel intensify—leading to burnout, absenteeism, and early retirements.
Without a strategic shift toward preventive measures and sustained well-being, these sectors risk a cycle of workforce depletion, operational inefficiency, and escalating costs that could undermine both security and public trust.
Retail: Navigating an Aging Workforce Amid Labor Shortages
The global retail sector is nearing an irreversible tipping point as an aging workforce collides with labor shortages and the sector’s inherent physical demands.
- Workforce Strain: Retail jobs, which often involve long hours of standing, repetitive motions, and heavy lifting, become increasingly challenging for older employees. This can result in higher rates of absenteeism, workplace injuries, and early retirements.
- Recruitment Concerns: Younger workers are increasingly reluctant to pursue long-term retail careers due to wage concerns, job instability, and demanding conditions.
Forward-thinking retailers are rethinking their workforce strategies by implementing longevity-focused wellness programs to retain experienced employees and attract new talent. Those who delay this response risk undermining customer service, supply chain efficiency, and overall profitability.
Healthcare: Leading by Investing in Workforce Resilience
Nowhere is the impact of the longevity crisis more pronounced than in the healthcare sector. An aging population is driving unprecedented demand for medical services, even as the workforce that provides these services is dwindling.
- Staffing Shortages: As healthcare professionals grow older, a surge in retirements exacerbates existing staffing shortages. Chronic stress, long hours, and high patient loads contribute to burnout, pushing many to exit the profession prematurely.
- Strained Resources: The rising prevalence of chronic diseases is stretching hospitals, clinics, and long-term care facilities thin, with fewer professionals available to meet the growing needs of patients.
Yet, the healthcare sector also holds a powerful position. By investing in workforce resilience and preventive wellness initiatives, healthcare organizations can set an example for other industries and fortify their operational capabilities.
Across each of the sectors profiled, the key takeaway for government and business leaders is that a sustainable future rests on the shoulders of a resilient workforce.
Aktivo Labs’ CEO and Co-founder Gourab Mukherjee spoke with leading team building and HR strategist Dane Groeneveld on how others are using Aktivo to foster resilience in a measurable way. To listen in on that conversation, click on the link below:
How others innovate with the Aktivo platform
Presently, Aktivo is utilized by government and commercial organizations to achieve a broad range of objectives, including:
- Reducing costs linked to healthcare and workers’ compensation claims, staff absenteeism, productivity losses and employee turnover – in a manner that builds a positive corporate culture;
- Fostering sustained citizen engagement around the issue of healthy living, to drive reductions in health spending;
- Creating a distinctly different customer experience to grow market penetration;
- Understanding the moving risk within a portfolio or population by calculating morbidity probabilities at scale whilst simultaneously incentivizing target groups to adopt risk-reducing behaviors; and
- Deepening stakeholder connections for the purpose of building loyalty and advocacy – be that from customers or employees.
In every instance, regardless of the model of deployment, each organization who deploys the Aktivo® platform is inadvertently making a genuine and measurable contribution to the United Nations’ Sustainability Development Goal #3 (Target 3.4), which aims to “reduce mortality from non-communicable diseases by a third between 2015 and 2030”.
It’s a value proposition that connects with both today’s conscientious consumer and senior leaders who are sensitive to claims of ‘health-washing’.
For the employers and employee benefits groups we partner with, the platform provides a clear view of where the risk of chronic disease resides within any workforce; as well as where it will likely present in the next three, five and 10 years.
While for individuals at risk of developing a chronic illness, the Aktivo® app (which connects users to the platform), operates as a frictionless intervention tool – championing preventative health practices through the use of behavioral design patterning.
In a nutshell, we enable service providers to find common ground with their consumers and constituents.
Article formerly titled: Prioritizing Employee Wellness in the Longevity Economy
The Longevity Challenge: Living Longer, but Not Healthier
Advances in healthcare and technology have dramatically extended human lifespans. However, this progress has not been matched by corresponding gains in healthspan – that is, the number of years individuals remain free from chronic disease.
For countries like the United States, the outlook is even grimmer as life expectancy growth has plateaued and chronic illnesses such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and musculoskeletal conditions has become increasingly prevalent.
For governments and businesses, this presents a cascade of challenges.
Chronic illnesses reduce workforce productivity, increase absenteeism, and drive up healthcare costs.
For those industries reliant on physically demanding labor – such as public safety, transportation, retail, and health services – the impact of the longevity challenge is especially brutal.