Employees who bring personal financial stress into their workplace are a cost to their company’s profitability. Most of us notice when our fellow workers are distracted or preoccupied by personal money troubles. Have you ever wondered how big financial stress is in the workplace and how the problem is being addressed? Employers of all sizes need to recognize that helping their employees helps their bottom line.
Measuring financial stress’ impact on the workplace seems really important in terms of profitability for a company. How distracted are employees?
PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the Big Four auditors, publishes an Employee Financial Wellness Survey each year. In their 2017 report, PwC found that nearly one-third of all employees is distracted by personal financial issues while at work, with almost half of them spending three hours or more each week handling personal finances at work.
Nearly one in three employees reports that issues with personal finances have been a distraction at work.
The PwC 2017 survey confirms that employees are distracted and spending less time each week working because of personal financial problems. Stressed employees are more likely to miss work and get sick.
How do millennials respond to financial stress in their workplace?
A June 2017 article in Money Magazine references a study by Bank of America Merrill Lynch Workplace Benefits in which 67% of millennials say financial stress overtakes their ability to be productive at work. In this study, millennials report spending an average of four hours per week at work focusing on their finances. Just think how large this issue will be in 2020 when nearly half of all U.S. workers will be millennials.
With millennials becoming a larger portion of the workforce, that must mean older workers are less stressed about retiring?
Unfortunately, the PwC study I mentioned earlier confirms that 54% of employees who are stressed about their money plan to postpone retirement. Delayed retirement, according to Prudential in a separate study, increases an employer’s total workforce cost from 1% to 1.5% if its workforce delays retirement by one year.
There are financial wellness programs that I see being used in the business setting.
These two programs are offered through large insurance companies, Prudential and MetLife. Prudential Pathways is an onsite financial education program for employees. MetLife offers an onsite workshop called Retirewise. Both programs offer a range of digital tools. More than 170 Fortune 500 companies work with MetLife on their financial wellness efforts.