Financial stress costing economy billions in lost productivity

Financial stress is having an impact on employers and the Canadian economy in addition to the employees actually dealing with the stress, according to a survey released on Wednesday by the Canadian Payroll Association.

In fact, the payroll association says that employee financial stress and the role it played on job performance and lost productivity costs the Canadian economy $16 billion a year. That loss is the result of increased absenteeism, turnover, benefit claims, decreased job satisfaction and low morale.

“Much like mental health, for Canadian businesses struggling to identify strategic advantages in a very competitive business environment, actively addressing the financial wellness of employees could provide a competitive edge and deliver bottom-line results,” said Peter Tzanetakis, president of the Canadian Payroll Association, in a press release.

Despite the overall cost to the economy, only 24 per cent of respondents said financial stress had an impact of job performance while 36 per cent said it didn’t.

As well, 20 per cent of workers responded that they spend between 30 and 60 minutes a day dealing with financial stress. Seventy-seven per cent said they spend less than 30 minutes a day stressing about finances.

In Atlantic Canada, the amount in lost productivity is estimated to be $800 million annually. Ninety-one per cent of workers surveyed in Atlantic Canada said they were worried about the rising cost of living and inflation while 45 per cent said they were stressed about living paycheque to paycheque and not being able to save enough money. Twenty-eight per cent also aid they were stressed about their increased debt in the past year.

The 11th annual payroll association survey involved 4,285 participants from across Canada. It was conducted between April 24 and June 18.