Worker Concerns About Well-Being Trending Downward

Employees still say they are experiencing burnout and financial stress—but they are less worried about their overall well-being now than they were at this time last year.

Workers’ concerns about mental well-being fell slightly in 2024, with employees scoring their level of concern a 5.5 out of 10, compared to 5.8 out of 10 the previous year, according to the 2024 Workplace Wellness Survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald Research. Financial well-being concerns dropped from 6.9 to 6.3 out of 10 between 2022 and 2024, and physical well-being concerns dropped from 6.2 to 5.7 out of 10 over the same period.

The data shows that there is progress on well-being, but there are still significant troubles, especially when it comes to financial health.

“While concerns about well-being have trended down during the past two years, some American workers continue to face challenges affording their basic needs,” Greg Hershberger, managing director of health and benefits for Greenwald Research, said in a statement.

Half of the 1,005 full-time and part-time U.S. workers surveyed in July and August expressed at least moderate concern about their financial well-being. Three-quarters of workers said debt is a problem for them, and of those, roughly 8 in 10 cited problematic credit card debt being driven by groceries (52%), vehicle expenses (49%), and household utilities (36%), according to the report.

Signs of Improvement

The slight improvement in well-being scores is still significant, experts say, as employees continue to deal with a number of serious challenges.

MetLife’s annual Employee Benefit Trends Study, released earlier this year, found that employees are now more likely to experience negative feelings at work, including stress (12% more likely) and burnout (17% more likely) than they were pre-pandemic (2019). Employees are also 51% more likely to feel depressed at work than they were pre-pandemic as they face what the insurer calls a “complex macro environment and permacrisis state” that has included the pandemic, persistent high inflation, international turmoil and war, and more.

A ComPsych report released earlier this year found that mental health-related leaves of absence are surging in the workplace, up 33% in 2023 over 2022, and overall up a whopping 300% from 2017 to 2023. An Aflac report found that well over half of employees (57%) are experiencing at least moderate levels of burnout.

Other reports have found that persistent high costs of living are contributing to soaring financial stress, with a large number of employees living paycheck to paycheck.

The slight uptick in employee well-being could signal that employer support is starting to make a dent. A handful of employers have focused on mental and financial health support in the past year, although EBRI researchers said more employer help is needed.

About 1 in 5 workers reported that their company has increased efforts to help them manage their overall well-being, according to the EBRI report, while two-thirds reported that their company’s efforts have stayed the same.

“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 of wealth and health benefits research at EBRI.