How Fitness Brands like Barry’s Capitalize on Employer Wellness Investment

As employers invest more heavily in wellbeing, platforms like Wellhub provide new growth opportunities for fitness and wellness brands while reshaping the relationship between workforce health and business performance.

In the corporate wellness world, wellbeing programs have evolved from single-dimension solutions designed to check a box for employees into strategic investments tied directly to business performance. Employers are increasing spending because they see measurable returns across retention, engagement, productivity and workforce resilience.

The shift is being accelerated by a changing workplace. As AI reshapes how companies think about talent, HR leaders are placing greater emphasis on retaining their highest performers. In a world of performance compression and burnout, 85% of top talent say they would consider leaving a company that doesn’t prioritize their wellbeing, while four out of five employees say wellbeing is as important as salary when evaluating an employer.

For the fitness industry, that evolution creates a powerful growth channel.

No company sits closer to that intersection than Wellhub. Rebranded from Gympass in 2024, the company has evolved into the world’s largest corporate wellness platform, serving as a strategic bridge between employer wellbeing investment and the fitness industry. 

Today, Wellhub connects more than 50,000 corporate clients (including employers like TikTok, Aflac, SoFi) and their 25 million eligible employees with a global network of more than 100,000 wellness partners, including Barry’s, Life Time, Crunch and Anytime Fitness.

The business case is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. According to Wellhub’s Return on Wellbeing research, 73% of companies using the platform report reduced healthcare costs, while 95% say their wellbeing programs have improved productivity, reinforcing the idea that employee wellness has evolved from an HR benefit into a measurable business strategy.

For fitness operators, the opportunity is equally compelling. More than 90% of Wellhub members visiting a gym or studio partner are new to that business, creating a direct link between employer wellbeing investment and operator growth.

Barry’s has seen that dynamic firsthand after joining Wellhub’s partner network in 2020.

“Barry’s was an early partner in Wellhub’s expansion into the U.S. as we recognized that employers were investing more heavily in employee well-being,” says Steve Padis, CFO and EVP of Strategy at Barry’s. “There’s tremendous alignment between our organizations’ missions, visions and values.”

A New Growth Channel for Operators

For fitness operators, the corporate wellness market represents more than another acquisition channel. It’s an opportunity to welcome new consumers, build lasting relationships and participate in the growing investment employers are making in workforce wellbeing.

“From a purely economic standpoint, we saw Wellhub as a way to introduce Barry’s to new clients, fill excess capacity, and drive greater frequency via employer-subsidized fitness,” says Padis.

That experience mirrors what Wellhub is seeing across its broader network.

“We bridge the gap between global corporate investment and the fitness industry.” says Emily Smith, Senior Director of Partner Marketing at Wellhub.

“We work with clients who are uniquely committed to creating a culture of wellbeing within their organizations. That investment combined with our industry-leading approach to corporate engagement and behaviour change, means we can generate scalable, incremental revenue for gyms and studios, whilst helping to solve one of the industry’s greatest challenges–converting the inactive population into new members of the fitness community.”

According to Wellhub, 89% of fitness businesses report that corporate members stay as long as or longer than members who joined through traditional channels.

For Barry’s, the partnership has delivered consistent and measurable growth. From May 2025 to May 2026, the company reported 37% growth in unique users and 28% growth in revenue through the platform. Since joining Wellhub as a partner, annual revenue generated through the partnership has increased more than 100x.

Turning Access into Participation 

One of the biggest challenges facing corporate wellness programs has always been engagement. Providing access to a benefit is one thing. Encouraging employees to consistently use it is the key indicator of a successful program.

Smith says Wellhub was designed to address that challenge through flexibility, personalization and constant innovation of their user experience.

“Wellhub consistently delivers 3-5x higher enrollment rates than traditional wellness benefits because we’ve built a model around choice, personalization and sustained engagement,” she says. “Each member is able to build their customized wellness routine inside of Wellhub, and the beauty of it is that custom value looks different for everyone.” 

The company continues to invest in tools designed to keep members active and engaged with partners. Through AI-powered personalization, gamified challenges, international check-ins and enhanced partner experiences, the platform developments are centered around driving incremental business growth for its global wellness partners. This strategy is underpinned by the business’ rapid adaption to evolving consumer demands since its inception in 2012.

That focus supports Wellhub’s broader goal of helping both employers and operators generate measurable results from wellness investments.

For employers, higher engagement creates stronger connections between wellbeing initiatives and business outcomes. For operators, it creates a steady stream of active users who arrive with employer support already built into their wellness journey.

According to Wellhub, 73% of gym and studio partners report increased profitability through their participation in a corporate wellness platform.

 “As employers lean in to supporting their people, the gym is emerging as the essential ‘third place’ following the home and office, where boundaries between personal wellbeing and professional performance blend. Our 2026 Return on Wellbeing report makes one thing clear: employee wellness is a financial imperative, as 95% of companies that measure their program ROI report a positive return. This is where fitness businesses are seeing the momentum– the companies sending their teams through our partners’ doors aren’t just investing in health, they’re investing in their bottom line and generating an industry swell as a result,” Smith says. 

Barry’s Spotlight: Expanding Access Without Compromising Brand

For premium fitness brands, growth often comes with a question: how do you balance maintaining brand positioning while expanding accessibility?

For Barry’s, Wellhub has provided a way to introduce the brand to new consumers while maintaining the positioning that has defined the business.

Padis says Wellhub has helped the company connect with prospective members through local office activations, wellness fairs and employer-driven engagement opportunities.

“All fitness brands are dealing with rising acquisition costs, so these types of localized activations and high-quality partnerships have proven more attractive, providing access to engaged, health-conscious clients,” he says.

At the same time, Barry’s has maintained the premium positioning that helped define the brand.

“At Barry’s, we are proud of the recognition as The Best Workout in the World. Sure, the workout is elite, but Barry’s is by no means elitist,” Padis says. “We welcome all clients, wherever they are on their fitness journey, and Wellhub has helped introduce more people to the Barry’s experience.”

That balance between accessibility and brand integrity is one reason corporate wellness partnerships are attracting attention from operators across the industry.

As employers invest more heavily in wellbeing, fitness brands have an opportunity to reach new audiences while staying focused on the experiences that differentiate them in the marketplace.

The Next Phase of Corporate Wellness

The opportunity is likely to grow.

The global corporate wellness market is projected to increase from $70.4 billion in 2024 to more than $106 billion by 2029, positioning it as one of the fastest-growing segments within the broader wellness economy.

Smith believes employers will continue to play a larger role in shaping health behaviors and wellness participation.

“In this AI age, HR leaders have a singular defining priority of 2026: to retain their top talent. Wellness is becoming their retention moat. For the 88% of HR leaders who say they can’t afford to lose their best people, fitness and wellness programs are as much of a frontline talent strategy as they are a financial one,” she says.

For fitness operators, that shift represents an opportunity to participate in a growing corporate wellness economy—whether they’re national brands, regional chains or independent studios.

“Our goal is to grow the fitness market as a whole by prioritizing engagement over access,” Smith says. “We’ve doubled users visiting our partners in the past two years and generated more than one billion check-ins across gyms, studios and wellness partners. Every new employer investing in wellbeing creates another opportunity for our partners to welcome new members, build lasting habits and grow alongside the expanding corporate wellness economy.”