According to our representative study of 5,020 employees across 13 industries, more than one in three is dealing with serious money worries. That doesn't stay at home. It shows up as lost focus, more sick days, and good people quietly looking for something else. The instinctive fix is to pay more — but a third of employees who got a raise last year are still stressed. That's because financial stress is rarely just about how much money arrives; it's also about whether people feel in control of it, could absorb a surprise, have room to make choices they value, and know where they're heading. This article makes the case for a holistic workplace financial wellbeing offering — one where salary and raises matter, but aren't the whole picture. And it gives employers an evidence-based way to act on it and reduce the costs financial stress creates across their workforce.
Since January 2026, Germany's BRSG II has made it easier for employers to enrol staff into a company pension by default. But enrolment alone doesn't solve the problem. This article uses data from 5,020 employees across 13 sectors to show that the real gap is not whether employers offer a pension, but whether employees understand it. The findings suggest that pension communication is directly linked to retention, and that a significant share of non-participation closes through better information alone.
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