Financial struggles are stressing employees

Is this statement true or false: One-quarter of full-time workers say they’re struggling financially.

It’s true, according to Ramsey Solutions’ SmartDollar Employee Benefits Study, conducted between Jan. 10 – 25, 2022.

The study surveyed 3,000 full-time U.S. workers, who were employed by companies with 25 to 3,000 employees and who received benefits through them.

It looked at everything from employee benefits, perceptions of and engagement with financial wellness benefits, employee financial and mental health, and other trends impacting employees.

Personal finances major stressor

And what it found first and foremost: Personal finances are a major stressor for employees. So much so that 56% said they feel they can’t get ahead with their personal finances. And by now you know what this translates to: Stress!

Like we’ve told you before, employees who are stressed due to finances aren’t productive.

And when we say stressed, it’s not like they’ve been a little stressed. Fifty-five percent say they worry about their personal finances every day!

Forty-five percent said they’ve been distracted at work from financial problems in the last year. Personal finances even took precedence over their career, relationships and family as the top issue creating “a significant amount of stress.”

You’ll want to keep an eye on your younger workers because it would appear they deal with money stress daily. When it comes to worrying about their personal finances daily 72% of Gen Z employees do it as do 65% of millennials. It drops to 54% for Gen X employees and 28% of boomers.

So, what can you do to make sure your employees aren’t stressed financially at work?

What employees want

According to 73% of employees in the study, they want their employers to offer more resources to help them manage their financial issues. But the sad fact is only 23% of employees in the study had employer sponsored financial wellness benefits.

Size seems to affect the type of financial wellness benefits offered:

• 12% of employees at small companies (25-199 employees) have financial planning compared to 15% of those at medium companies (200-999 employees) and 22% of those working at large companies (1,000-2,999 employees), and
• 7% of those at small employers have financial education benefits, compared to 14% at medium-sized employers and 19% of large employers.

Financial wellness benefits are highly desired, especially nowadays, by employees. In fact, it comes in second place only after flexible and remote work options!

Specifically, employees want:

• access to perks programs for savings on purchases (14%)
• student loan repayment assistance (13%)
• financial hardship programs (12%)
• financial planning resources (12%), and
• financial education resources (12%).