Financial concerns and mental health issues are distracting Australian workers from their jobs, whether it involves dealing with financial problems during work hours or taking time off for stress-related illness.
While employers, generally, have not recognised the effect financial stress is having on their workforces, some are now stepping up to help their staff.
Financial services company AMP found financial stress levels to be at their highest in 10 years, revealing in its Financial Wellness Report 2024 that only one in three Australians feels financially secure.
On average, workers spend about a day and a half each month – or 11 hours – of work time dealing with personal financial matters.
Almost nine in 10 workers (88 per cent) admit their productivity falls because of their financial worries, according to the AMP survey, while 22 per cent take time out of work to discuss matters with lenders, creditors and collection agencies, or to discuss personal financial problems with a colleague.
Bottling up financial fears
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AMP Bank group executive Sean O’Malley says the group’s research reveals most workers are meeting their mortgage payments, but they are thinking about ways to cut back on household basics such as groceries and discretionary items including recreation.
“Amid these cutbacks, it’s also evident that many aren’t taking advantage of the support available to them, with a tendency to bottle up their financial worries, in turn impacting their mental wellbeing,” he says.
Many employers offer wellness programs that include physical and emotional wellbeing initiatives; however, financial support is not specifically covered.
Moddex chief people officer, Kate McKenzie.
An exception to the rule is manufacturer Moddex, where financial wellness support was successfully incorporated into a suite of initiatives covering professional, social and personal wellbeing after it surveyed staff to determine the type of help they would be willing to use.
Moddex, which has been ranked among The Australian Financial Review’s 2025 list of the Best Places to Work, employs 145 people across Australia in the manufacture of handrails, balustrades and access systems for industrial settings and non-residential buildings.
Chief people officer Kate McKenzie says the company’s Hardship to Help Fund has been one of the most well-received financial wellbeing benefits by its workers.
The fund provides employees with a loan, an advance on an upcoming bonus and even a no-strings-attached gift to see them through a financial emergency.
“Financial wellbeing is one of the big pillars of wellbeing for us because we know if you have financial stresses, your head’s going to be focusing on those as opposed to focusing at work,” McKenzie says.
“So, even though we do budgeting training and we teach financial literacy, we understand that life can throw unexpected curveballs.”
Moddex makes handrails, balustrades and access systems for industrial settings and non-residential buildings, employing 145 people across Australia.
How the Moddex support model works
The fund was launched in mid-2024 to help staff with any financial crisis, whether it be urgent car repairs or medical costs. Employees complete an online form briefly outlining their request, which is kept confidential by McKenzie and chief executive Alvin Rowland.
Within two business days, McKenzie will have a conversation with the employee to check in with their personal wellbeing in their time of crisis as well as to start discussing ways the company can help.
Over the next five business days, the employee receives a tailored support plan including payment to ensure timely assistance.
McKenzie stresses the level of financial support is always determined by individual circumstances as well as by what the employee feels comfortable in accepting.
She says the support shouldn’t be categorised as a financial handout or bailout, regardless of whether a gift is provided.
“The payment is what the individual feels comfortable with,” McKenzie says. “A lot of people are quite proud and often offer to repay the support or ask if there’s something they can do in return.
“Each case that we have had has a different arrangement in place based on the circumstances of the individual.”
The Hardship to Help Fund also accepts nominations from workers who may feel a colleague is under financial stress or needs extra support.
Support goes beyond the shop floor
AMP group executive superannuation and investments, Melinda Howes.
The impact for the Moddex workforce has been considerable. “Team members often tell us how supported they feel, that they’re not alone and that we genuinely have each other’s backs when it matters most,” McKenzie says.
Moddex’s other financial wellbeing initiatives include training in budgeting, forecasting and business reporting which not only helps employees better understand how business operates but are skills that can be incorporated into their personal lives.
Melinda Howes, AMP group executive superannuation and investments, says many workers also worry about longer-term financial goals, such as having enough money in retirement.
“With a focus on paying the bills and keeping their heads above water, more Australians are understandably thinking and planning less about their longer-term financial goals,” she says.
“The wonderful thing about Australia’s compulsory superannuation system, is with Australia’s high employment levels, most are continuing to automatically build their retirement nest eggs.”
However, employees can contact their super fund to receive dedicated financial wellbeing support for these goals, such as a retirement health check.
