38% of employees are financially stressed and it shows up in lost hours, sick days and turnover. The numbers behind the stress and what employers can do about it.
Financial stress doesn't stay at home. It surfaces in the numbers employers already track:
lost per week, in working time
extra sick days more per year than their unstressed colleagues
more likely to be actively looking for a new job
Financial stress isn't only about how much money arrives. It's about feeling in control of it day to day, being able to absorb a shock, having room for choices that matter, and feeling on track toward what's ahead.
Pay is one of many levers that move financial stress — alongside corporate pensions, benefits and more. The study gives employers an evidence-based way to act across all of them.
What stress costs — and where the gap sits.
Fix the weakest dimension first, not the easiest to buy.
A benefit nobody uses changes nothing.
Track what moved — and compare outward.
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