Metlife recently published the results of an employee benefits survey that was taken in part during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are highlights of the results:
With all the frightening headlines, one would assume that physical health would be the biggest concern of employees. However, that is not true:
- Employees’ biggest concern is their financial health, 8 points higher than physical health
- Both social health and emotional health are just as big of a concern as physical health
Three of the five top reasons for financial concerns are directly related to COVID-19
- Stock market decline due to COVID-19
- Threats to job security or income due to COVID-19
- Lack of emergency funds
Although there are a complicated set of motivations, it appears that returning to work (and wages) if done safely, would be the best solution to reduce employee overall health concerns.
Other interesting survey results:
- More women (72%) than men (61%) are feeling stressed due to the pandemic
- Lower income earners (less than $50k) are feeling more stress than higher income earners (more than $100k), 70% and 62%, respectively
- More employees are feeling valued and appreciated during the pandemic (66%) than before the pandemic (56%)
- Employees who feel mentally, physically, socially, and financially healthy are over 50% more productive, successful, loyal, and engaged than employees who are not healthy in all four categories
Survey Source: https://www.metlife.com/content/dam/metlifecom/us/ebts/pdf/MetLife-Employee-Benefit-Trends-Study-2020.pdf