Finance
There’s one critical part of employee wellbeing that bosses are forgetting
![There’s one critical part of employee wellbeing that bosses are forgetting](https://fortune.com/img-assets/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GettyImages-1810936589-e1719520751254.jpg?resize=1200,600)
The cost of living crisis is weighing on employees. And as companies roll out more unique benefit offerings designed to support staffers, they should spend some time thinking about the financial benefits that workers actually want.
Two out of three U.S. employees ranked financial well-being as the top area within well-being overall in which they want support from their bosses over the next three years, according to a new report from Willis Towers Watson (WTW), an insurance services company. That beat out all other well-being subcategories, including a supportive company culture, mental, emotional, and physical health benefits, and workplace connections.
About 88% of workers are worried about covering their living costs, with 73% concerned about paying for food, 72% distressed about healthcare, 69% fretting over housing, and 66% troubled over transportation, according to the report. Around one in five American employees expect their financial situation to get worse over the next year.
In the past, retirement benefits were the main financial perk that employers would offer to their workers, Mark Smrecek, financial well-being market leader at WTW, tells Fortune. But as costs rise and workplace expectations shift, there’s been an increased emphasis on other meaningful employee benefits.
“As we look at broader lifestyle needs and concerns, the inventory on the employer side is far less equipped to serve its employee base,” he says.
Employers also seem unclear about how much workers actually prize financial well-being benefits. While 66% of U.S. workers want their employer to help them with their financial wellness over the next three years, only 23% of bosses prioritized financial wellness as an aspect of their well-being program.
When it comes to the kind of support they would like to see from employers, around 47% of U.S. workers say they want help growing their savings and wealth, according to the report. That’s followed by 35% who want help getting the most out of the benefits they already have, 33% who would like access to money in an emergency, and 21% want help managing debt. Around 21% want financial insurance, and 11% want help managing student loans.
Smrecek says that growing savings and wealth, as well as getting the most out of benefits, are two relatively traditional requests that employers are comfortable with. But others are more outside their wheelhouse.
“Providing access to money in emergencies and helping manage employee debt are two that are far more emerging from an employee demand point of view,” he says.
Smrecek adds that in addition to fulfilling workers’ specific financial benefit demands, employers need to do three things to best support staffers. He recommends bosses provide solutions that are relevant and accessible to their workforce, like financial literacy coaching and direct access to liquidity. Employers should also supplement those solutions with other less monetary-focused programs like affordable and effective healthcare plans. And companies should be proactive about connecting employees with these benefits.
“As employers look to really address the core need of the employee, how that relates to their business, and how they create value from their benefits, those aspects will drive a lot of the results that they’re looking for,” he says.
Emma Burleigh
emma.burleigh@fortune.com
Around the Table
A round-up of the most important HR headlines.
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Watercooler
Everything you need to know from Fortune.
Secret weapons. As more companies are trying to get workers back into the office, they’re employing sociologists, psychologists, and anthropologists to understand how staffers tick. —Ryan Hogg
Lavish living crisis. U.S. workers earning $150,000 per year are more worried about covering their bills than employees making $40,000 up to six figures, according to a report. —Eleanor Pringle
Paychecks for prosperity. China’s biggest banks have requested senior staffers to waive deferred bonuses, or even partially return their wages, to abide by the country’s new $400,000 pre-tax limit. —Bloomberg
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Finance
Ukraine has a month to avoid default
![Ukraine has a month to avoid default](https://www.economist.com/img/b/1280/720/90/media-assets/image/20240629_FNP503.jpg)
War is still exacting a heavy toll on Ukraine’s economy. The country’s GDP is a quarter smaller than on the eve of Vladimir Putin’s invasion, the central bank is tearing through foreign reserves and Russia’s recent attacks on critical infrastructure have depressed growth forecasts. “Strong armies,” warned Sergii Marchenko, Ukraine’s finance minister, on June 17th, “must be underpinned by strong economies.”
Following American lawmakers’ decision in April to belatedly approve a funding package worth $60bn, Ukraine is not about to run out of weapons. In time, the state’s finances will also be bolstered by G7 plans, announced on June 13th, to use Russian central-bank assets frozen in Western financial institutions to lend another $50bn. The problem is that Ukraine faces a cash crunch—and soon.
Finance
Florida Tech Names Kimberly Williams New Vice President for Administration, Chief Financial Officer – Space Coast Daily
![Florida Tech Names Kimberly Williams New Vice President for Administration, Chief Financial Officer – Space Coast Daily](https://spacecoastdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Florida-Tech-Kimberly-D.-William-600.jpg)
will start at Florida Tech on July 8
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Kimberly D. Williams, who has more than 20 years of experience in finance, higher education, and law, has been named Florida Tech’s vice president of administration and finance and chief financial officer.
Williams most recently served as the vice president for business affairs, CFO and treasurer at the University of Findlay in Ohio. She will start at Florida Tech on July 8.
“The campus community feedback received when Kim visited us was overwhelmingly positive,” President John Nicklow wrote in an email to the university announcing her hire. “I’m confident that she has the skill set to help move our university forward, together.”
Williams graduated from Fayetteville State University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and earned an MBA from Western Kentucky University. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of Arkansas School of Law.
She served as a civil litigation attorney in Missouri for five years before becoming chief financial officer and corporate counsel for a global, consolidated corporation in the aviation industry.
There, she oversaw the company’s overall financial health and gave project oversight across several fields as a strategic leader.
In 2016 Williams entered higher education, becoming business manager and director of business services for the University of Arkansas. After two years at UA, she was named assistant vice president for administrative and business services at Middle Tennessee State University.
As the senior administrator, she supported the department’s mission to provide effective and innovative business and administrative services to enrich learning and academic excellence on campus.
Williams stayed in Tennessee until 2022, when she became the vice president for business affairs, CFO and treasurer at University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio. There, she oversaw all matters related to the financial management of the university, serving as the primary steward of its financial and physical resources.
Williams is a member of several professional associations, including the National Association of College and University Business Officers, the Council of Independent Colleges, the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio, the Ohio Association of College and Business Officers and the National Association of Educational Procurement.
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Finance
World Bank OKs $1.5 billion financing for green H2 projects in India | India News – Times of India
![World Bank OKs $1.5 billion financing for green H2 projects in India | India News – Times of India](https://static.toiimg.com/thumb/msid-111370548,width-1070,height-580,imgsize-901472,resizemode-75,overlay-toi_sw,pt-32,y_pad-40/photo.jpg)
The programme will support reforms to boost the production of green hydrogen and electrolyzers.It also supports reforms to boost renewable energy penetration, for instance, by incentivising battery energy storage solutions and amending the Indian Electricity Grid Code to improve renewable energy integration into the grid. The financing includes a $1.46 billion loan from International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and a $31.5 million credit from International Development Association (IDA).
“The World Bank is pleased to continue supporting India’s low-carbon development strategy which will help achieve the country’s net-zero target while creating clean energy jobs in the private sector,” said Auguste Tano Kouame, World Bank Country Director for India.
The reforms are expected to result in the production of at least 450,000 metric tonne of green hydrogen and 1,500 MW of electrolyzers per year from FY25/26 onwards. It will also help to increase renewable energy capacity and support reductions in emissions by 50 million tonne per year.
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