Baby boomers not convinced about financial wellbeing in the workplace

The research, ’Realigning workplace savings to meet the needs of millennials’, has been conducted by Smarterly - an organisation that helps employees build healthy savings habits.

The research, of 500 UK-based HR managers, found that the individual priorities of those setting the employee benefits agenda impacts financial wellbeing support offered to employees.

Respondents wer­­­­e asked: Is it the employer’s role to support employee financial wellbeing? Eighty-two percent of those under the age of 25 said “definitely”, while only 35 percent of over 55-year olds agreed with this choice.

Employees were also asked: If your employer provided support with your financial concerns would you take up the offer? 45 percent of under 25 years olds said they would, compared to only 28 percent of baby boomers.

The research found that financial wellbeing in the workplace continues to primarily focus on pensions and pensions guidance, which is not a priority for millennials. They welcome more support on making savings for the short to medium term.

Michael Johnson, research fellow for the Centre for Policy Studies, said: “Millennials’ desire for flexibility and personalisation is at odds with how many workplace benefits packages have traditionally been designed. Historically, ‘the scheme’ has been the focus with little attention paid to the wants and needs of individual employees.

“The first step towards personalisation could be to segment the workforce by age cohort. There is mounting evidence, for example, that millennials aspire to own their first home ahead of saving for retirement.

“Rent is, after all, ‘dead money’. Consequently, the inability to access funds tied up in pension savings products is relatively unattractive when compared to other vehicles that do offer flexibility of access. These include a workplace ISA, in the form of a lifetime ISA, which attracts a 25 percent bonus on contributions, paid irrespectively of tax-paying status.”