On June 8, E4E Relief's Davida Rivens took part in HR.com's virtual event The Future of Employee Well-being to discuss the key challenges affecting the workforce today, the impact of financial instability on individuals and the companies they serve, and solutions to address these challenges head on.
Whether companies know it or not, they are feeling the downstream impact of their employees’ financial instability in the form of decreased productivity and engagement.
Money-related stress is at an all-time high in the U.S. 63% of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck, according to a recent LendingClub report. And PwC found that 49% say money worries had a severe or major influence on their mental health in the past year. Additionally, 76% say that financial stress had a negative effect on their productivity at work, and individuals who are struggling financially are seven times more likely to have poor attendance. That financial instability has serious repercussions for your culture and your bottom line, and one of the biggest contributing factors is not what you might think.
Unexpected emergency expenses – the costs that result from a disaster or hardship – are among the most serious threats to financial stability. According to a 2023 Bankrate survey, 57% of Americans couldn’t afford an emergency $1,000 expense, and 41% have no emergency fund or safety net in place. This is of particular concern as natural disasters are on the rise. A billion-dollar disaster now occurs once every 18 days in the U.S., according to the National Centers for Environmental Information. And as the frequency of climate-related events is increasing, so too is their intensity. Over the past year, the U.S. experienced six one-in-one-thousand-year rain events, as well as punishing heat waves, record-shattering snowstorms and one of the strongest hurricanes ever to make landfall in the U.S. The consequences of these events can be disastrous for both your business and the individual members of your workforce.
So what happens if you take steps to support the financial well-being of your workforce, your supply chain and your community in their time of need? Watch the free webinar to learn the latest research on financial stability and its connection to workforce well-being, as well as the results of new research that proves a direct link between corporate efforts to improve financial well-being and increased workforce engagement, productivity and loyalty.
