The compounding effects of sustained high inflation, broader economic uncertainty, and more moderate pay increases are eroding financial security — and employees are feeling the pain.
Financial confidence among employees is at its lowest level since 2012, with just 53% of workers saying they feel in control of their finances, according to MetLife’s newly-released annual Employee Benefits Study, down from 55% last year and 62% in 2022. And many are expecting their employers to help.
Meanwhile, half of all employees report that they are living paycheck to paycheck, up four percentage points from last year and eight points since 2020. At the same time, the ability to keep a three-month savings cushion has dropped by five points since last year, according to the report.
“We’ve seen financial confidence continue to decline over the past five years, but it’s not entirely surprising when you look at what employees are dealing with day to day,” said Todd Katz, executive vice president and head of group benefits at insurance firm MetLife in New York City. “Rising living expenses and medical costs are weighing heavily,” he added, with 83% of employees citing them as top stressors, and half saying they’ve avoided medical care because of out-of-pocket costs.
That pressure is compounded by uncertainty around AI and the broader economy, Katz said. More than three-quarters of employees say economic uncertainty is a major concern, and many find it too risky to leave their current job. Most workers (64%) say that even if they’re not fully satisfied at work, they would hesitate to make a change because they fear losing financial security, benefits, or stability.
Overall, employees are feeling less holistically healthy as well — 38% say they consider themselves to be holistically healthy, a slight dip from last year (39%) and bigger decline from 2024, when 44% reported feeling holistically healthy.
MetLife’s findings are significant in showcasing the financial concerns employees have, but they are no outlier. Other recent reports have found that financial stress is sky-high for employees: Nearly half of working Americans (49%) say they do not believe their wages will ever catch up with the rising cost of living, and another 32% say their wages won’t catch up for many years, according to a 2026 financial outlook from San Francisco-based career platform Resume Now. A report from jobs site Zety found that the majority of employees (51%) say falling behind on pay is their top worry in 2026. Meanwhile, the 2026 SHRM State of the Workplace report found that employees are looking for salary help from their employers, with 24% of workers saying that pay is their top workplace need.
Employers ‘May Find It Hard to Respond’
Although employees are staying put due to financial instability, they also are expecting more help from their employers. In addition to increased pay, more are seeking assistance through a variety of health and financial benefits. The majority of employees (68%) expect their employer to play a role in supporting their financial well-being, MetLife found.
The problem, the MetLife report found, is that “employers might find it hard to respond to these challenges, and invest in employee support, at a time when they are facing mounting financial pressures.”
As a result of those financial pressures, employers are increasingly focused on controlling health care costs — a priority that is now the top benefits objective for employers for the first time since 2022, according to MetLife.
But even as employers look at health care investments, the fact that the workforce’s holistic health continues to decline signals that employers can do much more, Katz said. For instance, they can look at nonmedical benefits, such as financial benefits or ancillary benefits, to help taper financial uncertainties.
“Offering nonmedical benefits is a strategic way to support overall well-being in today’s cost-constraint environment — but it’s also about designing, communicating, and delivering those benefits in ways that employees actually use and that drive results for businesses,” Katz said.
Regardless of what kind of specific help they offer, employers stand to risk workforce resilience and sustainable performance if they don’t offer support to employees.
“When support isn’t there, it can show up in higher stress, lower engagement and a workforce that is less prepared to adapt,” Katz said.