How Calix Saw $1.59M in Annual Savings Through a 5-Year Unmind Partnership
Content
- About
- The Challange
- The Solution
- The Impact
- Looking Ahead
HQ: San Jose, USA
Industry: Software Development
Company size: 1,800+ employees
About
Calix is a leading provider of cloud and software platforms, systems, and services for communications service providers in the telecommunications industry. With a workforce of over 1,200 employees, Calix empowers broadband service providers to enhance communities one at a time.
Since 2021, Calix has partnered with Unmind to provide comprehensive mental health support across its global workforce. Over the course of this five-year partnership, Unmind has enabled Calix to move beyond traditional wellbeing benefits, embedding proactive, accessible mental health support into everyday working life.
The Challange
As a remote-first organization, Calix came to Unmind in 2021 after facing challenges in monitoring and supporting employee mental health without in-person interaction. Leaders found it difficult to gauge how employees were coping, making timely intervention harder.
Today, the business continues to navigate a shifting market landscape – with intensifying competition in rural broadband and increasing pressure to differentiate beyond speed-based offerings. Having successfully transitioned towards cloud and software platforms, Calix is now focused on driving greater operational efficiency across the organization.
Against this backdrop, supporting employee wellbeing became increasingly critical. Calix recognized the need to move beyond standard benefits, creating a more personalized, confidential approach to mental health that reduces barriers to seeking help – one that employees could access whenever they needed it.
It’s very difficult to gauge that objectively as a leader… when you’re not sitting in front of them every day.
The Solution
Parul introduced Unmind to Calix following her own positive experience with the platform via her husband’s company. Initially focused on self-guided tools and mental health content, the offering has evolved to include therapy and coaching and Nova, Unmind’s AI coach – providing support across the full spectrum of need.
Unmind enables employees to:
- Proactively manage their mental health through assessments and guided programs
- Access therapy and coaching when needed
- Engage confidentially and on their own terms
This approach aligned with Calix’s philosophy of treating mental health like physical health — something to be actively maintained, not just addressed in moments of crisis.
My husband’s company had Unmind at the time, and it became a ritual for our family. Unmind had a gratitude course, and every night we’d sit down together and write in our gratitude journals. We'd listen to the gratitude audio on Unmind, it was fantastic.
The Impact
Over five years, the partnership has delivered both strong engagement and measurable business impact:
- $1.59M in annual savings, delivering a 4.65x return on investment
- $1.2M of savings attributed to therapy and coaching, reducing private healthcare claims
- 48% reduction in symptoms of anxiety, based on post-session therapy and coaching data
- 30% employee engagement with the platform
Beyond the numbers, Unmind has helped Calix create a culture where mental health is visible, supported, and embedded into the employee experience.
Nova is helping Calix shift from reactive to preventative support.
With the majority of usage focused on conversational support rather than escalation, employees are building awareness and managing challenges earlier - reinforcing Unmind’s stepped-care model and supporting a predominantly “flourishing” workforce.
The ROI on tools that support wellbeing is very different… If even one employee gets the help they need when they need it, that’s ROI.
Looking Ahead
As Calix deepens its shift toward cloud and software platforms, the pace of change isn't slowing down. In a remote-first environment where leaders can't easily read the room, proactive mental health support has become a core part of how the business manages through transformation – not a secondary benefit.
Calix is prioritizing deeper integration of wellbeing into its leadership strategy — with a focus on supporting the executive team and building resilience capabilities across leaders. As the organisation continues to expand globally, particularly in India, the next phase will centre on scaling this approach consistently across regions and teams..