2022 PwC Employee Financial Wellness Survey

Employee rationale for changing jobs has shifted this year. More than a quarter of the employees who changed jobs last year did so for nonmonetary workplace benefits including a less stressful job and the ability to work remotely or flexibly. Only 38% cited more money as their main reason for changing jobs. Today, among the 29% of employees currently looking for a new job, 65% cite money as their primary reason. Employees looking for new jobs are relatively evenly split across gender, salary band and industry, probably due to the larger economic and inflationary pressures facing all workers.

Keeping in mind the high cost of employee turnover, including recruiting and training plus the loss of institutional knowledge, employers should show they care about employee financial well-being by promoting benefit programs that help employees stretch their money further. That includes student loan paydown plans; more than one-third of survey respondents who are currently looking for a new job have student loans. It also includes financial coaching focused on areas where people need immediate help like budgeting, paying down debt and building an emergency fund, as well as employer benefits that enable employees to access their pay more quickly without being subject to exorbitant fees and interest rates.

Among employees who say that their financial worries have had a severe or major negative impact on their productivity at work, 67% are struggling to meet their household expenses on time each month, 71% have personal debt and 64% are using credit cards to pay for necessities they couldn’t otherwise afford. One in four have saved less than $1,000 for retirement, and more than half plan to postpone their retirement.

Millennials are more likely than Gen Xers to say that financial worries have affected their productivity. Given that many millennials are in their 30s and dealing with the financial implications of a variety of life events, employers should emphasize financial planning workshops and coaching designed for employees managing the financial implications of things like buying a home, getting married, becoming a parent or dealing with divorce.

Employees whose financial worries have had a severe or major impact on their productivity seem especially receptive to help. More than half told us that they’re aware that their employer offers services to assist with personal finances. (By comparison, less than one third of employees whose productivity was not severely or majorly affected by their finances had that awareness.) They’re more likely to have used the financial wellness services their employer offers and more likely to rate those services as extremely useful. They’re also more likely to want a higher touch when it comes to their finances. Nearly half of those whose productivity has suffered want to be told what to do when it comes to their finances as compared to one third of other employees.

The vast majority (73%) of employees whose productivity at work is severely or majorly impacted by their financial worries also say that their finances have significantly affected their self-esteem. Employee resource groups may be particularly helpful for employees who need to feel connected at a time when work and personal issues are colliding in a way that makes them feel less than successful on either front.

Given that more than half of financially-stressed employees who are distracted by their finances at work spend three hours or more each week dealing with personal money issues during work time, employers who direct their employees to financial wellness resources to help alleviate stress have the potential to reap tangible gains in employee focus and productivity.