72% of U.S. Employees Are Stressed About Their Finances

Staff Report

Monday, June 13th, 2022

 BrightPlan, a leader in Total Financial Wellness, today announced the results of its 2022 Wellness Barometer Survey on the state of employee well-being. Among its key findings is a significant increase in employee financial stress since 2021, with 72% of employees reporting they are stressed about their finances—which in turn has affected workers' mental and physical health as well as workplace productivity.

Rising inflation (79%) is employees' top financial concern, followed by adequate retirement planning (59%), with employees currently contributing significantly more to retirement. In addition, market volatility (56%), having sufficient emergency savings (55%), and paying off debt (44%) rank high.

With an 11% increase over the past year, employee financial stress is at an all-time high. Deteriorating financial health is impacting both mental health (77%) and physical well-being (52%). Those reporting financial stress state they lose, on average, 11.4 hours in productivity every week—this translates into over $4 billion in lost productivity weekly for U.S. employers.*

"As the pandemic's impact on the workplace lessens and economic uncertainty increases, financial wellness is top of mind," said Marthin De Beer, BrightPlan founder and CEO. "Employees are more concerned and stressed about their finances than ever before. Fortunately, companies have gained trust among their workforce. By offering innovative wellness benefits, employers can leverage that trust to attract, retain and engage their best workers."