Companies take greater interest in employee financial wellness

More firms are highly concerned about their workers’ financial wellness, with most benefit decision-makers and workers agreeing that their company has a responsibility to ensure their employees are physically, mentally and financially well.

That was among the findings of the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s 2025 Financial Well-being Employer Survey. The survey results were discussed at EBRI’s Financial Well-being Symposium.

Nearly half of firms surveyed (48%) reported they are highly concerned about workers’ financial well-being – an increase from 43% who reported the same last year, said Jake Spiegel, EBRI senior research associate, health and wealth.

Two-thirds of firms said they offer a number of financial wellness benefits while 88% said they have a strategy to improve employee financial wellness.

Most firms rate themselves highly when it comes to their efforts to improve workers’ physical, financial and emotional well-being. About 3 in 10 firms are trying to address retirement preparedness, health care costs or financial stress with their initiatives. The Top 3 issues that firms want to address with financial wellness initiatives are financial-related stress, budgeting and money management, and retirement preparedness.

More than half of firms said they have taken steps to understand employee financial wellness. The most commonly reported steps include conducting a financial wellness needs assessment, examining existing plan benefits, holding employee focus groups or one-on-one discussions, and creating employee resource groups for continuous feedback.

Employee satisfaction and productivity continue to be the top two factors in measuring financial wellness initiatives, the survey showed.

Small employers interested but constrained

Small employers recognize the impact of financial wellness but face disproportionate cost, compliance and capacity constraints, said Sarah Faye Pierce, head of government relations at Paychex.

“Small business is the engine of our economy, and their employees are the fuel,” she said.

Financial well-being should be treated as economic infrastructure, Pierce said. Financially confident employees are more engaged and productive. Policy and innovation should focus on scale, simplification and outcomes.

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