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November 11, 2024
Workers concern moved to 5.5 from 5.8 in 2023, in survey from Employee Benefit Research.
It's nice to report good news. On Nov. 1, the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) published results from its 2024 Workplace Wellness Survey and found that worker concerns about well-being are trending downward.
That's an important difference since in last year's survey 74% of workers are moderately or highly concerned about their workplace well-being.
The fifth annual Workplace Wellness Survey examined worker attitudes towards employment-based benefits in the workplace, as well as a broad spectrum of financial and mental well-being, employment-based health insurance and retirement benefit issues.
“Progress is being made," explained Jack Spiegel, research associate, Wealth and Health Benefits Research, EBRI, in a statement. “However, we still see some workplace stressors. Seven in ten workers are concerned that their employers will reduce or eliminate retirement benefits, and half say that saving enough for retirement is their number one stressor.”
Key highlights in the 2024 survey report include:
• Concerns about well-being are trending downward, yet half still express at least moderate concern about their financial well-being. Concern about mental well-being is down in 2024, with workers rating their level of concern an average of 5.5 out of 10, compared to 5.8 in 2023. Additionally, there is a general trend of concern about financial and physical well-being decreasing, with financial well-being concerns dropping from 6.9 to 6.3 between 2022 and 2024, and physical dropping from 6.2 to 5.7 out of 10.
• Fifty-six percent of workers are very or extremely satisfied with their current job, with only 14% expressing dissatisfaction. About one in five workers reported that their company has increased efforts to help them manage their overall well-being, while two-thirds report that their company’s efforts have stayed the same.
• Workers report similar satisfaction with their benefits package as in prior years, with top improvements being a greater employer contribution and financial wellness benefits/resources. Just over 4 in 10 are extremely/very satisfied with their benefits package, in line with prior years. The top improvements suggested are greater financial contributions from their employer (51%), more resources/benefits to help with financial well-being (32%), more choice (31%) and personal time off conversion (31%).
• As AI tools proliferate, many workers seem to be prepared. Over half (57%) say that they are comfortable using AI tools at work, and a majority (51%) indicate that AI tools help them do their jobs more effectively or efficiently. Less than one-third (31%) responded that they were concerned that increased AI adoption may threaten their jobs.
• Retirement savings. While half of workers indicated that saving enough for retirement causes them the most stress, six in ten workers said that their retirement savings plans contributed a lot to their feelings of financial security, up from 2023. Additionally, half agreed that their retirement plan savings were the only significant emergency savings they had, a decrease over the levels observed in 2023.
“Workers broadly agree that their employers have a responsibility to make sure employees are mentally healthy, physically healthy and financially healthy,” explained Jack Spiegel, research associate, Wealth and Health Benefits Research, EBRI, in a statement. “Progress is being made. However, we still see some workplace stressors. Seven in ten workers are concerned that their employers will reduce or eliminate retirement benefits, and half say that saving enough for retirement is their number one stressor.”
It's nice to report good news. On Nov. 1, the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) published results from its 2024 Workplace Wellness Survey and found that worker concerns about well-being are trending downward.
That's an important difference since in last year's survey 74% of workers are moderately or highly concerned about their workplace well-being.
The fifth annual Workplace Wellness Survey examined worker attitudes towards employment-based benefits in the workplace, as well as a broad spectrum of financial and mental well-being, employment-based health insurance and retirement benefit issues.
“Progress is being made," explained Jack Spiegel, research associate, Wealth and Health Benefits Research, EBRI, in a statement. “However, we still see some workplace stressors. Seven in ten workers are concerned that their employers will reduce or eliminate retirement benefits, and half say that saving enough for retirement is their number one stressor.”
Key highlights in the 2024 survey report include:
• Concerns about well-being are trending downward, yet half still express at least moderate concern about their financial well-being. Concern about mental well-being is down in 2024, with workers rating their level of concern an average of 5.5 out of 10, compared to 5.8 in 2023. Additionally, there is a general trend of concern about financial and physical well-being decreasing, with financial well-being concerns dropping from 6.9 to 6.3 between 2022 and 2024, and physical dropping from 6.2 to 5.7 out of 10.
• Fifty-six percent of workers are very or extremely satisfied with their current job, with only 14% expressing dissatisfaction. About one in five workers reported that their company has increased efforts to help them manage their overall well-being, while two-thirds report that their company’s efforts have stayed the same.
• Workers report similar satisfaction with their benefits package as in prior years, with top improvements being a greater employer contribution and financial wellness benefits/resources. Just over 4 in 10 are extremely/very satisfied with their benefits package, in line with prior years. The top improvements suggested are greater financial contributions from their employer (51%), more resources/benefits to help with financial well-being (32%), more choice (31%) and personal time off conversion (31%).
• As AI tools proliferate, many workers seem to be prepared. Over half (57%) say that they are comfortable using AI tools at work, and a majority (51%) indicate that AI tools help them do their jobs more effectively or efficiently. Less than one-third (31%) responded that they were concerned that increased AI adoption may threaten their jobs.
• Retirement savings. While half of workers indicated that saving enough for retirement causes them the most stress, six in ten workers said that their retirement savings plans contributed a lot to their feelings of financial security, up from 2023. Additionally, half agreed that their retirement plan savings were the only significant emergency savings they had, a decrease over the levels observed in 2023.
“Workers broadly agree that their employers have a responsibility to make sure employees are mentally healthy, physically healthy and financially healthy,” explained Jack Spiegel, research associate, Wealth and Health Benefits Research, EBRI, in a statement. “Progress is being made. However, we still see some workplace stressors. Seven in ten workers are concerned that their employers will reduce or eliminate retirement benefits, and half say that saving enough for retirement is their number one stressor.”
SOURCE:
(https://www.ehstoday.com/health/news/55239976/worker-concerns-about-well-being-trending-downward)
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