A few years ago, “financial wellbeing” wasn’t a phrase you heard much in the workplace. Today, it’s become a core part of how companies support their people, sitting alongside mental and physical health as a key pillar of employee wellbeing strategies.
The reason for this shift is clear, financial stress doesn’t stay at home it comes to work. It impacts focus, performance, happiness, and retention. And younger employees, especially, expect employers to care not just about their salary, but about their broader financial lives.
Why Financial Wellbeing Matters
There’s growing recognition that when employees feel financially insecure, when they’re stressed about their rent, or unclear about how to progress in their role or pay, that stress weighs heavily. It’s another mental load, and it often shows up at work as disengagement, or burnout.
Progressive companies are responding by integrating real, practical support into their wellbeing offering and as standard, not as a perk.
What Financial Support Can Look Like
Forward-thinking employers are moving beyond the basics (like pension contributions) and offering a more complete toolkit to help their people manage and improve their financial wellbeing:
- Access to budgeting tools and financial education
- Salary advances on earned wage access
- Workplace savings schemes
- Transparent pay frameworks and cost-of-living support
- Workshops and one-to-one financial coaching
It’s not about hand-holding or playing personal finance advisor. It’s about giving your people the confidence and control to make better financial decisions. Which in turn, helps them thrive in their role.
Financial Wellbeing Is a Culture Signal
Supporting financial wellbeing sends a clear message- it shows your company isn’t just focused on what someone delivers or how they perform. You care about life outside of work, not just performance inside it.
It also helps with retention. People who feel supported are more likely to stay, perform better, and speak positively about where they work.
Founders: Don’t Wait to Build Financial Wellbeing into Your Culture
When you’re building a startup, it’s tempting to think culture starts with a mission statement or your first team off-site. But culture is built through the everyday decisions, like how you pay people, how secure they feel, and whether they’re supported when things get hard.
Startups often prioritise physical and mental wellbeing perks like gym discounts, mental health days or mindfulness apps. But financial wellbeing is also a core part of wellbeing and it's often overlooked.
In early-stage companies, where salaries might be tighter and workloads heavier, financial anxiety can easily bubble under the surface, especially for junior team members. Most won’t speak up about it. But if rent has gone up, if the cost of living is increasing, and if progression feels unclear, you’ll see it reflected in their energy and performance.
Why You Should Care Now, Not Later
Your first 10–20 hires sets the tone for your company culture. Supporting their financial wellbeing creates trust early, and makes it clear you value your people.
And this isn’t about throwing money around, its about thoughtful actions:
- Pay people fairly and explain how pay decisions are made
- Provide clear progression frameworks, with linked pay bands
- Run occasional sessions on money management
- Be transparent about equity, options, and benefits
- Consider salary advance schemes or automated savings as part of payroll
Build it in From Day One
If you’re already thinking about how to build a resilient team. Financial wellbeing shouldn’t be an optional extra. It’s the difference between stressed, distracted employees and motivated, loyal ones.
