Survey: 74% of Workers Concerned about Workplace Well-Being

WASHINGTON – The 2023 Workplace Wellness Survey, released Wednesday by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Greenwald Research, found that 74% of American workers are moderately or highly concerned about their workplace well-being. 

Additionally, nearly three-quarters expressed similar concerns about their emotional well-being or mental health, with 1 in 4 rating their mental health as fair or poor.

The fourth annual survey examined worker attitudes toward employment-based benefits in the workplace, as well as a broad range of financial well-being, employment-based health insurance and retirement benefit issues.

“What we found surprising is that this is the first year that saving for retirement is not the primary financial stress factor for employees,” said Jake Spiegel, research associate at the Employee Benefit Research Institute. “Instead, we found that day-to-day issues like emergency savings and paying for household bills are top of mind for workers.”

Other key findings in the survey include:

• Workers are worried about how potential economic challenges will impact their finances. More than 4 out of 5 workers are at least somewhat concerned that there will be a recession in the next year or that inflation will remain high for at least the next 12 months.

• 4 in 10 workers feel at least somewhat prepared to handle an emergency expense of $5,000. Far more American workers (70%) feel equipped to manage an unexpected expense of $500.

• 40% of employees are extremely or very satisfied with their benefits package, and 22% are not too or not at all satisfied. At the same time, 7 in 10 agree at least somewhat that their benefits package is designed to meet their lifestyle and/or family needs.

• More than half of workers feel mental health benefits have become more important to offer in the past year, and 4 in 10 feel the same way about financial wellness programs.

• Health insurance is the most important benefit. Fifty-five percent of workers are satisfied with their health coverage.

• Nearly 6 in 10 workers struggle to balance work and caregiving responsibilities. Among caregivers assisting with activities of daily living or instrumental activities of daily living, 3 in 4 struggle to find balance.

• 6 in 10 employees do not feel financially prepared for being unable to work or reducing work hours to provide care. Caregivers are more likely to feel unprepared (64% vs. 56%).

A total of 1,505 full- and part-time workers age 21 to 64 were interviewed for the survey. This year’s survey included a national sample of 1,002 workers and an oversample of 503 completed surveys among caregiver workers, bringing the total to 753 caregiver workers. Information for the study was gathered through 20-minute online interviews conducted in July and August.

Pictured at top: Photo by Spencer Davis. (Unsplash)

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.