On the Rebound: Survey Finds Workers Less Worried About Overall Well-Being

The COVID-19 era has wreaked havoc on workers’ overall sense of wellness. Findings from a new poll, however, suggest that employee well-being might be on the rebound.

Published by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald Research, the 2024 Workplace Wellness Survey, polled more than 1,000 American employees in an effort to examine worker attitudes toward employment-based benefits as well as “a broad spectrum of financial and mental well-being, employment-based health insurance and retirement benefit issues,” according to an EBRI statement.

Overall, the survey found worker concerns about well-being are trending downward. For example, employees’ level of worry about mental well-being is down in 2024, with workers rating their level of concern an average of 5.5 out of 10, versus 5.8 in 2023. In addition, levels of concern about financial well-being decreased from 6.9 to 6.3 between 2022 and 2024, with workers rating their concern about their physical health at 5.7 this year, compared to 6.2 in 2023.

For roughly half of respondents, retirement savings—or a lack thereof—is their biggest source of stress, with six in 10 workers saying their retirement savings plans contributed greatly to their feelings of financial security. The same number agreed that their retirement plan savings were the only significant emergency savings they had, a decrease over the levels observed in 2023, according to EBRI.

The majority of survey participants seem to be happy in their current professional roles as well. For instance, 56% of workers said they are very or extremely satisfied with their current job, with just 14% expressing dissatisfaction. About one in five workers indicated that their employer has increased efforts to help them manage their overall well-being.

Just over four in 10 are extremely or very satisfied with their benefits package. Respondents also offered ways that employers could improve their benefits offering, such as greater financial contributions (51%), more resources and benefits to help with financial well-being (32%), more choice (31%) and paid time off conversion (31%).

“Workers broadly agree that their employers have a responsibility to make sure employees are mentally healthy, physically healthy and financially healthy,” said Jake Spiegel, research associate, wealth and health benefits research, at EBRI, in a statement.

“Progress is being made. However, we still see some workplace stressors. Seven in 10 workers are concerned that their employers will reduce or eliminate retirement benefits, and half say that saving enough for retirement is their No. 1 stressor.”