Salary remains an essential pillar of professional experience, but it is no longer the only one. This is reflected in the “Study on well-being and health at work in Spain”.”, The Edenred, a multi-solution digital platform specialising in employee engagement and social benefits, together with Savia, consultants with MAPFRE's health and wellness solutions. The report offers a snapshot of the current working environment in Spain and reveals that aspects such as emotional pay, occupational health and flexible remuneration are increasingly present in the priorities of talent.
The data from the study are clear: only 49.7% of professionals in Spain declare themselves satisfied with their salary. Within the remaining 50.3% , half believe that, although its remuneration could be better, welfare at work conditions what your company has to offer contribute to balancing that perception. In fact, a relevant figure is that 1 in 4 workers value their company's provision of benefits such as flexible remuneration, emotional salary, or health services, among others.
The differences are particularly marked by age, being Baby Boomers (55-60) the group most critical of their salary, followed by the Generation X (45-54), reflecting a growing trend of salary dissatisfaction with advancing age.
This data reflects that workplace well-being has become a strategic priority, not only for attracting and retaining talent but also for preserving the emotional health of teams through emotional salary.
Despite its tangible benefits, only 43% of talent in Spain has access to flexible remuneration plans, with significant differences depending on company size. Companies with 500 to 1000 professionals stand out, whereas in microenterprises only 1 in 4 people have access to these types of benefits.
The study identifies the most valued options as medical insurance (30.1%), the Ticket Restaurant (20,5%) and mobility (20%), due to its direct impact on health, savings and work-life balance.
Mobility benefits are most valued by Generation Z, while the Ticket Restaurant maintains a stable level of preference across generations. Meanwhile, the training stands out particularly among Millennial professionals (25-44 years old).
The report also highlights a fact that cannot be overlooked: 64% of talent say that their work affects their emotional health to a greater or lesser extent.. The majority link this impact to moments of high workload, but 23.2% declares they feel this effect constantly.
The most frequent symptoms are work-related anxiety (54%), chronic stress (49.5%), insomnia (36%), and depressive symptoms (33.3%). All of this, moreover, is combined with other side effects such as a sedentary lifestyle or deteriorating eating habits (36.4% in both cases).
Millennials (25-44) are the group reporting the greatest impact, both emotionally and on physical well-being, making them key demographics when designing occupational health strategies.
