AMP Managing Director, Workplace, Ilaine Anderson

New research has revealed workers in the transport, postal and warehousing industries suffer the highest degree of financial stress in Australia.

The AMP Financial Wellness report revealed a quarter of employees in these industries were worried about their finances.

Closely followed by workers in administration and support services and accommodation and food services, where 24 per cent of workers experienced financial stress.

The results showed a direct link between workplace productivity and employees who were concerned about their finances.

"... employers can play a leading role in helping staff prevent financial stress..."

Our research showed employees who are financially stressed took an additional two sick days per year and spent close to an hour on personal money problems during the work day.

The impact on the economy is significant, costing an estimated $31.1 billion in lost revenue.

One of the concerning trends our investigation highlighted was that once someone is financially stressed it takes them over six years to fully recover.

The good news is employers can play a leading role in helping staff prevent financial stress with workplace policies they implement.  

Encouraging flexible working hours or working from home, were shown to improve employee performance, engagement and overall psychological wellbeing.

Employers can help employees engage with their finances through practical measures like encouraging employees to do a twice-yearly health checks or by giving advice about how to set up direct debits for day-to-day bills.  

Planning-ahead was also shown to provide greater peace of mind.

Encouraging staff to engage with their finances by committing to clearly defined goals and a plan in place to achieve them can significantly ease money worries.

Download a full copy of the Financial Wellness report here.