What are hearing health benefits and why do you need them?

Hearing health is often badly overlooked in the workplace as we often assume it’s only a concern in later life, however, the reality is very different. With 16% of people experiencing disabling levels of hearing loss at work and 50% of your Gen Z workforce at risk, it’s more important than ever to provide hearing health benefits. But what are they?

What are hearing health benefits?

It’s standard practice for businesses to provide eye care when their employees spend extended hours in front of screens. However, most businesses don’t offer the same level of support for their hearing.

Whether your employees work on busy production lines, spend hours on the phone with customers, or hop from one Zoom meeting to another, hearing is an essential part of their work.

eargym‘s hearing health benefits are completely customisable to meet the needs of your business. Each package covers 4 key areas:

1. Raising awareness - Get access to a series of videos, articles, and live webinars with experts that support your team as they learn more about hearing and cognitive health.

2. Hearing and impact assessments - Learn about your team’s hearing health with a comprehensive set of checks that measure hearing loss and its impact over time.

3. Personalised hearing care plans - Access the eargym app for lots of learning materials, reminders to test, and hearing training games designed to improve hearing and challenge cognitive skills.

4. Ongoing solutions & support - Support your employees with getting the help they need. You can personalise the benefits you offer with optional private audiology appointments to those who need them.

eargym is the award-winning hearing health provider and our hearing care works. In our latest study, 83% of users reported an improvement in their hearing after using the programme for 7 weeks.

Why do you need hearing health benefits for your employees?

• Foster a supportive work culture: have open and honest conversations about hearing health to build trust with your employees and promote an inclusive company culture.

• Boost employee productivity: caring for employee hearing health helps to reduce listening fatigue, anxiety, and stress. This helps minimise the absenteeism and presenteeism caused by unaddressed hearing loss.

• Retain top-performing talent: ensure your most senior employees feel supported and able to deliver their best work throughout the later stages of their careers.

• Stand out with an innovative offering: Be more competitive in the hiring marketplace where employee benefits and well-being support are often more valuable than salary alone.

Hearing loss symptoms typically start to appear for people in their 30s and 40s, but this is getting younger as people with increasing levels of noise exposure. At work, even mild hearing loss can cause negative impacts including mental fatigue, frustration, and increased absenteeism. In fact, 79% of people with hearing loss have felt stressed at work because of it.

If that hearing loss continues to get worse, it can lead to feelings of isolation, loneliness, and anxiety, often causing premature retirement. This problem is significantly impacting the UK economy, costing £25 billion in lost productivity every year.

As a result, providing your employees with hearing health care and support can provide an economic benefit, whilst boosting employee productivity and well-being. According to the World Health Organisation, “For every dollar invested in hearing loss prevention, fifteen dollars are earned in return”. You can also save money on recruitment costs, as providing hearing care helps you stand out in a competitive hiring market, and support your ageing workforce, retaining staff for longer.

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