The State of Financial Wellbeing: Workplace Report 2022 by Wagestream - a financial wellbeing provider - has found that 68 per cent of workers in the UK are immersed in money worries at work, despite employers dedicating more resources to financial wellbeing.
The reason for this is given as the fact that employees are hiding financially driven mental health concerns from their employer due to embarrassment and fear of being reprimanded.
The report is based on research amongst 5,000 UK employees and 600 senior HR professionals - along with input from leading money charities and the UK Government’s Money and Pensions Service.
It was also found that 24 per cent of UK employees were concerned about money every day, making money the number one worry in 2021 - an 8 per cent increase on the previous year. However, HR professionals estimated that just 2 per cent of their employees worried about money daily.
Despite efforts by employers to introduce financial wellbeing programmes - 93 per cent of HR professionals stated that their organisation has a financial wellbeing strategy - only 52 per cent of employees reported feeling supported. But, as 28 per cent of organisations say that they provide salary advances - and only 9 per cent of employees say their employer provides them - lack of communication may account for the difference.
Jamie Lawrence - Insights Director at Wagestream, financial wellbeing provider and author of the report - said:
“This year’s report finds that we are entering a new phase of financial wellbeing at work. Almost every employer has now taken its first step on financial wellbeing, but many are failing to achieve true impact. It’s fantastic to see employers being so proactive in plugging the financial inclusion gap – now we hope they’ll take it a step further by building out financial wellbeing programmes that address the bespoke needs of their own workforces and the most urgent problems many face – like savings.”
The research took place amidst a growing cost of living crisis - the latest figures issued by the Office for National Statistics show that growth in regular pay was 3.8 per cent in the three months to January 2022. This, when adjusted for inflation, fell to a negative 1.0 per cent.
Charles Cotton - Senior Reward and Performance Adviser at the CIPD - said that in-work poverty was a major issue before the current cost of living crisis and was “likely to get worse”, but there are steps employers can take to improve their people's financial wellbeing.
He said:
“Firstly, employers should pay a fair and liveable wage to help people achieve a decent standard of living. Supporting in-work progression – which gives employees the ability to increase their earnings potential – and offering financial wellbeing support to encourage people to be open about their money worries could also benefit employees.”
Sarah Porretta - Propositions, Insights and External Engagement Director, Money and Pensions Service - stated:
“Supporting workers, particularly those in vulnerable circumstances, to create financial stability for themselves has never been more important given the mounting pressures on household and life expenses. It’s really encouraging to see that the vast majority of workers would welcome support and it’s now crucial that employers recognise this and introduce new measures to promote long-term financial wellbeing.”
