It appears financial wellness, and its multitude of benefits, is finally getting through.
Nearly one in three U.S. employees would like their employers to provide more assistance to improve their financial health, and more than a quarter would like additional support for mental health, including how to cope with burnout, according to the National Business Group on Health.
Additionally, employees’ overall well-being is associated “with access to health-enabling communities near their workplace.”
Financial health
The survey found nearly a third of employees cited financial health as the one dimension of well-being they would like their more employers to address.
The top areas employees cited as wanting help to improve their financial health were health care, prescription drug costs and housing costs.
Mental health
When it comes to mental health, 27% of employees are looking for more support.
The survey found two in five employees want help with “burnout at work” specifically, while roughly a quarter would like help so they can sleep better and become more resilient.
“The message from employees to their employers on well-being is loud and clear,” Brian Marcotte, President and CEO of the National Business Group on Health, said in a statement. “Employees are looking to their employer to provide support on all areas of well-being—not just physical health programs focused on losing weight or understanding health risks—but those designed to help employees meet their financial, mental, community and social health goals.”
Employees with access to health-enabling communities report higher levels of well-being compared with employees whose workplace communities that lack in these supports. Six in ten employees whose workplace community supports well-being reported higher well-being levels, more than double the 28% of respondents who said their workplace community doesn’t support well-being.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of 401(k) Specialist and Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots. Experienced financial services content executive specializing in creative new media delivery. He joined the American Retirement Association in 2023 as Chief Content Officer, overseeing communications for the organization, as well as its sister organizations.
