Companies must prioritise offering independent financial education to help employees navigate the cost-of-living crisis, according to a panel of financial and wellbeing experts.

A panel discussion on the cost-of-living crisis held by workplace wellbeing specialists Champion Health took place following the company’s study of 2,200 UK employees, which revealed that financial pressure is now the leading cause of stress. One-in-ten of all employees say financial stress is hindering their ability to perform their job.The group, which also included Tari Okoye from Morrinson Wealth Wellbeing and Benefex’s chief innovation officer, Gathin Nadin, made the following recommendations:

• Employers must improve the level and quality of financial education they offer, to prevent employees making financial decisions without understanding the implications.
• Employers must make better use of technology to ensure all employees can access independent, impartial, and trustworthy financial advice
• Employers must tackle the stigma around discussing finances at work by providing confidential access to financial help for staff.
• Employees must ensure that benefits packages are fit for purpose and clearly communicated to managers and employees

The data collected between October 2021 – June 2022 is published in the Cost Of Living Crisis report which is dedicated to exploring how the cost of living and rising financial stress affects the wellbeing of UK professionals.

The report shows 34% believe that financial pressure is now the highest cause of stress with 71% of UK professionals experiencing moderate to high levels of stress.

Harry Bliss, CEO and co-founder of Champion Health, commented: “We’ve become much better at discussing our mental health, however, there is still a lot of stigma attached to discussing finances. Many employers may not feel it is appropriate to discuss their employees’ financial stress with them but when our data shows one in ten of all employees report financial stress is affecting their ability to do their job, this is something employers need to tackle head on.”

“The cost-of-living crisis has a knock-on effect where financial stress is causing fatigue and businesses are at risk of having an unproductive workforce. At its most extreme, those experiencing financial stress are more than twice as likely to experience thoughts of suicide or self-harm. This alone must galvanise businesses to act. Companies can help to turn this dangerous pattern now. It’s not just a business challenge, this is a moral challenge too.”