All over the world, and across all age groups, people are struggling with the cost of living. High inflation has driven up the price of everyday essentials and governments are not always able to provide the level of support that people need.

And this means the role of employers has grown – no longer is it acceptable to provide just a salary… workers rely on their employer to provide a whole host of employee benefits (EB) to help them tackle the cost of living crisis. An important part of those EB programmes is financial wellness.

But it isn’t easy. Employers aiming to provide financial wellness support to a global workforce can find it a real challenge. Cultural, economic and political factors strongly influence people’s lives, and no two workers will have the same financial outlook. However, a good goal for everyone is to be financially fit.

In every market, unique factors will drive how employees define their own financial wellness needs.

Family support – or lack of it – plays an important role in people’s financial outlook. Family support doesn’t always take the shape of inheritance. It flows to and from family members in many ways – like multigenerational living, or migrant workers sending money to relatives abroad. Perhaps most commonly, family support means caregiving for children, elderly and vulnerable relatives.

People’s financial outlook is also shaped by the ‘social contract’ where they live, which can influence what they expect from their EB programme. For instance, the social contract in some countries promises ‘cradle to grave’ welfare support. In others, self-sufficiency is encouraged – with populations more likely to turn to the private market for essentials like healthcare, caregiving and retirement savings plans. For many employees, the social contract exists somewhere between these two poles, on a sliding scale that moves with new governments and economic trends.

The concept of a ‘social protection floor’ suggests governments should be responsible for setting nationally defined, minimum basic social security guarantees to their citizens – like universal access to essential healthcare and basic income security.⁵

An interesting point for multinationals to consider is where employers fit in this model. Because, as we already see happen in the private healthcare market where employees find state support lacking, they may look to support from their benefits packages to stop them from falling between the cracks.⁶

But is taking a larger role in supporting in employees’ financial security worth multinationals’ investment?

Financial insecurity can trigger pressures that impact people’s personal and professional lives. And statistics show financial stress has a dramatic effect on workplace productivity.

These figures clearly demonstrate the value of employers investing in a strategy that helps their people with financial stress. But how?

We’re seeing more multinationals today rise to the challenge of tackling financial stress by offering financial wellness education and greater flexibility and personalisation of their employee benefits – allowing people to flex and top-up their selections as their needs change over time.

The key to making this strategy effective is knowing what factors may be shaping people’s financial outlook at different life stages – and what benefits could help them reduce the impact of financial stress.

In many markets, Generation Z (Gen Z) workers face challenges like student debt and high rent costs while still growing their earning power. Like Millennials, Gen Zs are responding to cost-of-living pressures by living in their family home later into adulthood. And also they’re responding to these pressures by finding extra work on top of their everyday jobs – ‘side-hustles’ often leveraged via technology and social media.¹²

Gen Z employees are likely to report satisfaction with work-life balance compared to previous generations, which is credited partly to flexible working policies.¹³ Flexible working can be popular with younger workers who value work life balance and the flexibility this provides, and can also have the knock-on effect of saving money on more costly city accommodation or commuting costs.

This generation is the first to grow up with the internet and is already accustomed to healthcare services built on digital platforms (such as wellbeing apps and virtual care clinics). Gen Zs are the highest user of employer-provided healthcare and wellbeing tech and consider telehealth services and mental health support apps as among the most valuable benefits when seeking a new role.¹⁴ This openness to both mental health support and digital solutions could increase the likelihood Gen Z workers will use workplace benefits like digital financial wellness apps and will engage with mental health professionals when struggling with finances.

This may be the youngest generation in the workforce today, but Gen Z will nonetheless benefit from retirement saving education campaigns, given their potential to earn decades of compound interest on their retirement savings if encouraged to begin investing early.¹⁵

Ideas for employers to support early-career workers

• Financial education
• Travel loans
• Digital financial wellness solutions
• Flexible work arrangements
• Retirement savings education
• Mental healthcare support

Economic insecurity is often identified as a driving force in young people postponing major life milestones, such as buying a home or having children in some economies.¹⁶ This means at the age their parents and grandparents might have expected to be buying their first home and having children, many Millennials – who are now moving towards the mid-point of their careers – instead experience arrested development.  

But some say this generation will soon become divided into an ‘inheritocracy.’ Many Millennials are drawing upon the ‘bank of Mum and Dad’ to buy homes and will receive inheritances from Baby Boomer parents and grandparents – propelling some in this age-group ahead of their peers.¹⁷

We’re seeing the EB industry respond to the pressures this generation faces via the emergence of family reproductive health and fertility benefits and childcare costs support. Other financial benefits like mortgage advisory services can be helpful for those in their mid-career that are now ready to get on the housing ladder.

Like Gen Zs, this age group is also interested in building wealth and creating a security net via protective insurance and investments – making Millennials a key audience for workplace financial education campaigns.¹⁸

How employers can support mid-career workers

• Progressive parental leave policies
• Family reproductive and fertility benefits
• Caregiving benefits
• Childcare vouchers
• Budgeting and coaching services
• Flexible work arrangements
• Competitive retirement fund packages
• Mental healthcare support

Gen X is beginning to replace Baby Boomers in the most senior ranks of today’s workforce, as the tail end of the post-war generation retires. Employees in their 50s and 60s tend to be focused on maximising retirement savings, while also managing the time of life when health issues are most likely to begin impacting their lives and work.

While Boomers are often characterised as a wealthy generation who have benefited from vast house price gains, not all have attained financial security. As this generation approaches old age, healthcare and elder care cost challenges can trigger poverty.¹⁹

For this age group, growing older could involve caring for ageing parents or a partner living with illness or disabilities. Many people may also be financially supporting younger generations of the family struggling to get control of their finances. Women face additional pressures, as they are more likely to be undertaking caregiving roles, while grappling with the impact of gender pay gaps and pensions deficits as they approach retirement.²⁰

Many of the youngest Gen X workers are facing a prolonged career, as governments worldwide phase in later state retirement ages.²¹ These policies will mean employees need to stay in the workforce to a later age, which could increase their interest in health insurance packages that include enhanced disease screening and cancer care coverage. Postponed access to state pensions could also boost interest in competitive retirement savings packages.

How employers can support late-career workers

• Retirement savings and planning services
• Enhanced healthcare cover
• Mental healthcare support
• Caregiving benefits
• Menopause support benefits

These generational snapshots are based on broad trends. While many workers may recognise their economic position reflected in these pictures, others will find no resemblance at all.

But there is one concern shared by all workers no matter their age or financial status: the risk of being impacted by life’s curveballs.

The foundation of any comprehensive financial wellbeing benefits programme should be a suite of insurance options and other non-insurance benefits that give employees the chance to build a strong security net.

Workers will look to their EB programme for traditional insurance benefits, such as health, life, accident, disability and income protection. In markets where populations have greater reliance on health insurance, enhanced cover may prove key to attracting and retaining talent.

Employers might think paying their people’s salaries fulfils their responsibility to employees’ financial wellness. But via their benefits offering, retirement savings programmes and workplace education campaigns, employers have the opportunity to play an even more supportive role that can help their people build their financial fitness and tackle money-related stress – no matter what stage of their life or career they’re at.