Dive Brief:

• While two-thirds of employers offer financial education to help employees manage their personal finances, employers reveal their workforces are struggling with debt (66%), with saving for retirement (60%), with saving or paying for children's education (51%), with covering basic living expenses (48%) and with paying for medical expenses (36%), according to a new report.
• The report, Financial Education for Today's Workforce: 2016 Survey Results from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEPB), found that the 406 employers surveyed in the U.S. and Canada are seeing added stress on the "sandwich generation," with supporting elderly parents and adult children at the same time reported by over a quarter of employers.
• Four out of five employers report that their employees' personal financial issues are "somewhat," "very" or "extremely" impactful on their job performance. The top areas impacted include an increase in stress (76%), the inability to focus at work (60%), and absenteeism and tardiness (34%).

Dive Insight:

Julie Stich, director of research at the International Foundation, says nearly half of organizations rate their workforce as only a little bit or not at all financially savvy, and employers are also reporting more financial challenges among employees today than five years ago and are seeing these challenges reflected in day-to-day workplace operations.

To help combat the issue, nearly half (49%) of organizations offer benefits literacy education, 45% offer retirement security education and 23% offer financial literacy education. The most popular education methods include voluntary classes, projected account balance statements, retirement income calculators, online resources and free personal consultation services.

Currently, employers are switching from sole use of "set it and forget it" tools, like deferral calculators, to a more integrated approach that involves education and guidance.