Survey your employees today to find out if they’re one of the nearly half of U.S. employees stressed about their finances
By Adria Schmidt, Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners
Every year, personal finance is ranked as a leading cause of employee stress in the country.
Nearly 50% of U.S. employees suffer from financial stress.
These workers are, according to a survey by Salary Finance:
- 8x more likely to have sleepless nights
- 4x more likely to suffer from depression
- 5.8x more likely to not finish daily tasks
- 4.9x more likely to have lower work quality
- 4.5x more likely to have poor relationships with colleagues
- 3.4x more likely to suffer from anxiety and panic attacks
And it’s only getting worse.
About 80 percent of Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck, according to CareerBuilder.
Interestingly, these statistics are nottied to salary amounts. In fact, the survey says 4 out of 10 people making over $100,000/year consider themselves “financially unstable.”
It’s not just the employees who are suffering.
Employers lose out too.
Four out of five employers say their employees’ personal financial issues are impacting job performance, according to the IFEBP survey.
Financially stressed employees lose nearly one month of productive workdays per year. They are also 2 times more likely to seek a new job opportunity.
HR managers note issues among some employees like:
- The inability to focus on work
- Plummeting productivity levels
- Increased absenteeism and tardiness, and
- Decreased morale overall.
Having employees who are financially stressed is proven to impact the bottom line, too.
Financial stress results in approximately 11–14% of annual payroll costs in lost productivity and increased turnover, according to The Employer’s Guide to Financial Wellness.
In total, American businesses are losing $500 billion per year due to employees’ personal financial stress, according to a survey of more than 10,000 Americans by Salary Finance.
The good news is…
More employers are doing something to help.
Helping the employee’s financial well-being in the immediate and long term was often seen as a “think outside the box” kind of benefit.
But financial wellness benefits have been on a rapid rise for several years.
In a 2019 Prudential Financial Survey, almost 50% of workers at large companies (25,000 or more employees) said their employers offer financial wellness benefits. In small companies (fewer than 100 employees), about 37% of workers said their company is offering them.
And nearly a third of workers surveyed expressed a desire for financial wellness in the categories of: education classes, online financial management tools, digital financial advice and planning, accrued wage advances, low-interest loans, and debt consolidation/payment programs.
Financial wellness programs are also proving to bring tangible benefits to organizations:
- Lower employee turnover
- Less absenteeism and tardiness
- Fewer requests for loans and advancements and
- Increased employee happiness and company reputation overall.
The employee “health” umbrella is now merging mental, physiological, and financial stability.
Despite the upward trend, however, only 6 percent of employees say they feel that their employers are providing them with sufficient help to effectively manage their finances, according to a poll by Gallup.
There will always be improvements to be made. But with employers increasingly bringing the right financial education and resources to their employees, they are recognizing their role in improving their employees’ financial health — and moving in the right direction.
Do You Manage Employees?
Chances are 50% of them are too financially stressed to work to their potential.
Find out how many of your employees could need financial coaching support — and if your organization is being negatively impacted by financial stress.
Download your FREE template of the 2019 Employee Financial Wellness Survey.
About Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners
Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners is an award-winning nonprofit organization and financial coaching provider. For over 20 years, our team has helped more than 50,000 U.S. workers improve their credit scores, reduce their debt, and adopt smarter financial habits. Learn more.
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