South African businesses lose an estimated R12 bn- R19 bn a year to absenteeism, with many companies experiencing workplace absenteeism rates between 3.5 and 6 percent, the equivalent of roughly 8 to 15 lost working days per employee every year.
Against this backdrop of rising burnout, cognitive fatigue, and stress-related illness, longevity is rapidly evolving from a niche wellness trend into a serious global business sector focused on human performance, resilience, and workforce sustainability.
The global longevity market is projected to exceed $67bn by 2035, driven less by anti-ageing vanity and more by growing concern around energy, recovery, and sustained performance in increasingly demanding working environments.
“What was once dismissed as the domain of Silicon Valley biohackers and luxury wellness retreats is rapidly evolving into a serious commercial sector positioned at the intersection of healthcare, productivity, and human performance,” according to Iain De Havilland, Founder of NADClinic.
“Five years ago, longevity was still viewed as a fringe wellness category,” he adds. “Today, the conversation is increasingly centred on energy, resilience, recovery, and cognitive performance.”
Founded in London and launched in South Africa in 2019, NADClinic now operates across more than 40 countries with over 500 affiliates and clinical partners worldwide. The company specialises in NAD+ therapies, diagnostics, peptides, IV therapeutics, and performance-focused wellness protocols designed to support energy production, recovery, cognitive function, and cellular health.
He notes that at the centre of the company’s approach is NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide), a coenzyme found in every living cell that plays a critical role in mitochondrial energy production and cellular repair processes.
Researchers have linked declining NAD+ levels to reduced mitochondrial efficiency, impaired cellular repair, and lower energy production, factors associated with fatigue, cognitive decline, and age-related loss of resilience.
According to De Havilland, the rapid growth of the longevity sector reflects a broader shift in how businesses are approaching employee wellbeing and productivity.
“Traditional employee wellness programmes have often focused on reactive healthcare, gym incentives or mental health campaigns,” he says. “What we’re now seeing is the rise of preventative, performance-focused wellness; using diagnostics, metabolic testing, recovery protocols, and personalised interventions to support workforce resilience and cognitive endurance.”
NADClinic’s corporate wellness offering includes personalised diagnostics, metabolic assessments, IV therapies, and recovery-focused interventions designed to support employee wellbeing, resilience, and long-term workforce performance.
The company has also expanded into hospitality and human performance partnerships as global demand for science-led longevity solutions accelerates.
“There’s a growing distinction between trend-led wellness and science-led longevity medicine,” says De Havilland. “The market is maturing very quickly, particularly as businesses start looking at burnout, performance, and preventative health more seriously.”
He believes longevity will increasingly become part of broader workforce sustainability conversations in South Africa.
“In an economy increasingly defined by burnout, cognitive overload, and chronic stress, the real longevity question may no longer be how long people live but how long employees can sustainably perform in increasingly demanding economic conditions,” he concludes.
