Findings from Zellis suggests financial pressure is eroding the UK and Irish workforce, with 92 per cent of employees reporting financial stress in the past year. Launched today by Zellis, the UK and Ireland provider of HR, pay, workforce management (WFM), and benefits solutions, the Financial Wellbeing Report 2025 underlines the growing need for employers to treat financial wellbeing as a core part of their duty of care.
For too long, employers have treated financial wellbeing as a ‘perk’ or ‘add-on’. However, the report shows that employee financial resilience is critical for both employee wellbeing and in turn, business growth. Business leaders are also feeling the strain, with only 12 per cent saying they are unaffected by money worries.
Financial stress is not just a personal issue, it’s a workplace issue. Zellis’ survey of 2,500 employees and 500 business leaders in the UK and Ireland found that 89 per cent of respondents say their working lives have suffered as a result of financial stress.
- Almost half of the employees surveyed agree that they found it harder to focus or concentrate at work when dealing with financial anxiety, and more than a quarter acknowledged that it made them less productive.
- Around 2 in 5 (38 per cent) business leaders say financial stress and worry have made them less able to effectively communicate with their team.
The Financial Wellbeing Report comes swiftly after the government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy, which includes measures such as making financial education compulsory in English primary schools and the promotion of payroll saving schemes.
As the review explains, employers are uniquely placed to make a difference to the health and wellbeing of their employees. Zellis research shows that financial resilience is crucial to an employee’s overall wellbeing and organisations have a responsibility to cater to people’s financial needs. Tools that support employee financial wellbeing and help improve financial literacy are fundamental.
The Zellis report found that among those who have access to financial wellbeing tools and use them at least weekly, financial stress is lower.
- 54 per cent of employees with access to financial wellbeing tools expect their finances to improve in the coming year,compared to 43 per cent of employees overall.
- 78 per cent of employees who have access to such tools have used them at least oncein the past year; more than half of those (47 per cent of the total) use them more than once a month.
- 78 per cent of employees say they contribute more to the business when they feel confident about their finances.
“The cost-of-living crisis has not only exposed the fragility of employee household finances but has also laid bare the limitations of traditional employer support,” Gethin Nadin, Chief Innovation Officer, Zellis comments. “Despite the data, headlines, and lived experiences of millions of UK and Irish employees, too many organisations remain on the sidelines. But financial wellbeing of employees is no longer a peripheral concern – it is a business-critical imperative. This report shows employers must act not just out of compassion, but out of necessity for their own survival.”
