Around 33% of young workers, those aged between 16-24, believed they may need to retire early due to health concerns, AXA Health has found.
The provider surveyed 2,000 UK employees, finding that ill-health leading to job losses are common in the workplace, worrying both older workers towards retirement age, but also younger generations.
AXA Health said this suggests more needs to be done to support workers with their health throughout their lifetime.
One third of young workers said their workplace has prohibited them from leading a healthy lifestyle as they often feel stressed. AXA Health said this highlights that threats to careers includes both physical and mental health.
Across all respondents, ill-health was considered to be the second biggest threat to their jobs (33%), ranking above worries around artificial intelligence (26%) and just behind economic concerns (37%).
Specifically, ill-health concerns became the top perceived career threat for workers aged 45+, overtaking economic worries.
Heather Smith, CEO, AXA Health, said: "These findings should serve as a wake-up call for UK employers. When one third of workers see ill-health as a major threat to their careers and young people are already worried about early retirement due to health concerns, we need to take action."
Workplace health
AXA Health found the top priority for being healthy at work was "feeling motivated and engaged" (43%), followed by working in a clean, organised environment (41%) and having a psychologically safe workplace (39%).
This should be supported by tailored benefits, the provider said, including addressing the practical barriers preventing workers from accessing support.
However, 19% of employees said they are "too busy" to use benefits and 17% found the process "too complicated or inconvenient".
At the same time, while employees were worried about ill-health forcing them out of work early, financial pressures have been pushing retirement ages higher.
The research found that while most would like to stop working between the ages 60-64, they realistically expect to work until 65-69. Around 39% had to increase their retirement age due to financial pressures, meaning that employers must support an ageing society.
Smith said: "Workers are telling us they need motivation, engagement and psychologically safe environments to feel healthy at work. This needs more than just a blanket benefit structure – it's about creating the right workplace environment and culture and, of course, choosing the right benefits to support the needs of their workforce.
"Ultimately, we need a shift from reactive healthcare to preventative wellbeing that's genuinely embedded in business strategy. Looking after your health is important at every age. No matter if you are 20, 40 or 60 – it is never too early or too late to make healthy changes so you can keep being active and well in later life."
According to Smith, healthcare benefits must be relevant, accessible and aligned with what employees at every life stage "actually" need, she said: "But this isn't just about benefits packages, it's about creating workplaces where people can thrive throughout their careers and not just survive until retirement."
