The Appetite For GLP-1 Is Growing. Here’s What This Means For Employers

Promoting self-care and equipping employees with supportive tools

Everyone seems to be talking about GLP-1s. This class of medications, which were initially created to treat type 2 diabetes, are quickly becoming known as “miracle drugs” for those looking to lose weight. In the last year alone, medications like Ozempic and Mounjauro have been embraced by celebrities and praised by the medical community for their ability to help people shed pounds without overhauling their diet or spending countless hours at the gym. In fact, current research estimates that 7% of the US population will be taking GLP-1 medications by 2035. GLP-1s, the shorthand moniker for Glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists, literally make weight loss as simple as getting an injection. And when you look at it this way, who wouldn’t see them as the ideal solution for weight loss? 

Add to their efficacy the fact that our society, unfortunately, is quite fatphobic, and it’s easy to grow their popularity. There’s seemingly a never-ending amount of pressure on people to lose weight for many reasons, and as we all know, physical appearance is often one of them. Because GLP-1s deliver a quick, effective solution to this challenge, there’s been a massive surge in people requesting and receiving prescriptions for  GLP-1s for weight loss, whether it's medically indicated or not, i.e., those whose BMI is in the healthy or low overweight range and those who do not have pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes. Doctors are eager to help their patients lose weight, and cynics will point out that providers, including telehealth clinics, which have sprouted like weeds lately, often stand to make a lot of money prescribing GLP-1s.

GLP-1s may seem like a gift, and in many respects they are, but there’s more to the story here. These drugs mimic the effect of a hormone that stimulates the body to produce more insulin. The complexity is that the sticker price of one injection is nearly $1,000 per month per patient. Additionally, given that GLP-1s' very design requires it to be circulating continuously to be effective, they stop working the minute a patient stops taking them. 

Due to the substantial financial burden, numerous employers are grappling with the challenge of covering annual costs that may reach up to $12,000 per employee. What’s more, the lack of longitudinal study on the long-term physical impacts of the medication (especially with regard to weaning) may reinforce an employer’s hesitancy for fear of contributing to a perceived fad that may, in fact, harm employee health over time. So what should companies do as demand around GLP-1s skyrockets among their workforce? 

Perhaps employers should take this opportunity to train their focus on the 40% of the workforce that is clinically obese or merely overweight, and curiously watching the hype, wondering whether GLP-1s might be right for them. Employers can, and should, empower these employees with effective tools that drive true holistic lifestyle change — and which will be required for long-term healthy weight whether taking GLP-1s or not, and have the added benefit of potentially diminishing the desire or need for GLP-1s in the first place. 

Helping employees balance their physical, nutritional, emotional, and financial health (as well as sleep hygiene) plays a critical role in helping them get to and maintain a healthy weight and happy life. This kind of whole-person lifestyle support toward sustainable change can lead to great outcomes.

We recently worked with a leading healthcare provider on a 9-month holistic behavior change program that resulted in 71% of participants losing 5% body weight and 95% maintaining new healthier habits. Part of the program's success lay in what was omitted, namely stringent, impossible-to-sustain dieting restrictions, and instead focused on positive behavior change addressing multiple aspects of each individual’s life and health. 

While these kinds of changes are proven to lead to outcomes including sustained healthy weight, better morale, lower blood pressure, lower A1Cs, better sleep, and even better joint health, the mechanism for creating these new habits was focused on addressing how to fit into the reality of people's lives rather than upending them. By taking a holistic approach to this program (and evolving it to include Mental Health Guides), even the most vulnerable members can get the help they need by easily learning how to work with the time, financial resources, and energy they have to meet their goals.

The common refrain for decades around weight loss has been “eat less, move more.” Since the ‘60s, we’ve all thought of weight loss as a matter of pure willpower, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Weight loss isn’t just about the food you eat but about your biology, as well as your relationship to food, your access to healthy ingredients, as well as stress levels, and sleep patterns.

Social determinants of health, like socio-economic disparity and the ability to easily access fresh fruits and vegetables, contribute enormously to our employees’ risk factors and their ability to improve them. Employers should perhaps ask themselves this: do I have resources to help my employees manage health and healthy weight in the context of their reality? It will prove more impactful and lead to better health outcomes than simply addressing whether they will lose weight this year. 

To foster employee well-being and increase engagement and retention, I urge employers to look at weight loss differently. Give all your employees something holistic and foundational, period. This will empower them to successfully make lasting changes whether they are interested in taking GLP-1s or not. Ultimately, the most important thing you can do as an employer is give your employees permission to take care of themselves and ensure they feel supported by providing them the tools they need to do so.

Lorna Borenstein is the Founder and CEO of Grokker, a foundational well-being solution for organizations supporting the mental health, physical, nutrition, sleep, and financial well-being needs of their workforces. Lorna is on a mission to redefine global business culture and champion employee well-being.