1,600 HR Leaders and Employees Surveyed Reveal Financial Well-Being Benefits as an Untapped Driver of Improving Performance, Employee Experience
SAN FRANCISCO, March 30, 2022–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Three out of four U.S. workers (75%) are facing at least one source of major financial stress1 and more than half (51%) felt more stressed about their finances in 2021 than ever before,2 according to new research published today by SoFi at Work – a leading holistic, financial well-being and education assistance benefits Partner to more than 1,000 organizations – and Workplace Intelligence, an HR research and advisory firm. As a result of this increased stress, employees are pivoting their personal and professional lives – with some taking on second, part-time jobs (25%), while others opt to carry higher credit card debt (25%), or tap into retirement savings (19%)3 – and employees are spending a weekly average of 9.2 hours4 on their personal finances, while at work.
But there’s widespread optimism across the workforce that 2022 will be a year of positive change when it comes to personal finance progress, with more than 9/10 (91%) of employees confirming they’ve committed to improving their financial well-being by setting financial goals for 2022.5 Perhaps even more important is the increased budget that 75% of employers plan to put toward financial well-being benefits programs within the next two years6 in order to ensure employees have the tools they need to reach those goals.
SoFi conducted the study – which was based on 1,600 responses from 800 HR business leaders and 800 full-time employed workers from across industries, locations, and job types – to understand what role financial well-being plays (or could play) in employees’ work-life, and to help employers gauge how certain benefits – such as employer contributions toward student loan debt, financial literacy tools, emergency savings account access, and more – might impact the broader business and employee experience at their organizations.
The findings revealed that improving employees’ financial well-being could have a ripple effect in driving increased worker productivity (86%), desire to stay with their employer (86%), job satisfaction and engagement at work (84%), ability to focus (84%), as well as improved mental (84%) and physical (80%) health.7
The report also revealed less obvious, but equally impactful, areas where employers have an opportunity to provide more holistic financial well-being support for employees – whether that’s through comprehensive education assistance programs, or more cutting-edge integrations that employees across industries are expressing interest in – like the option to receive performance rewards in the form of NFTs (42%) or be paid in cryptocurrency (36%).
Other key trends and supporting data points from the new report, “The Future of Workplace Financial Well-Being,” – which can be downloaded here – include:</…….
Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sofi-study-reveals-three-four-130000072.html
