At A Glance
Offering modern employee benefits around financial wellness can help employers with retention and new hiring.
In a labor market where 51% of employees are actively seeking new opportunities and 42% of turnover is considered preventable, employers are under increasing pressure to stand out. One of the biggest shifts driving this competition is the growing emphasis younger generations place on employee benefits when evaluating job offers. As a result, companies are looking beyond salary to attract the best talent and retain their top performers.
One of the ways companies are addressing this problem is through modern, or non-traditional, employee benefits. These are typically perks and programs that go beyond the traditionalcompensation package of salary, health insurance, and retirement plans. They’re designed to address the evolving needs, values, and lifestyles of today’s workforce.
Modern employee benefits can include flexible work options, which allow team members to perform their jobs remotely and/or with flexible hours. In addition to standard healthcare benefits, some businesses provide access to mental health services, such as counseling and mindfulness programs. Other businesses offer learning and professional development programs that include tuition reimbursement and job-related sabbaticals.
Modern employee benefits could also include lifestyle rewards, such as gym memberships, wellness retreats, volunteer days or travel stipends. One of the most attractive benefits are financial wellness programs, which can consist of financial coaching, identity protection and restoration, and device and data protection tools.
Financial wellness: a key modern employee benefit
What exactly is financial wellness? The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau defines it as “the feeling of having financial security and financial freedom of choice, in the present and when considering the future.” How employees feel about their finances, especially in the face of rising costs and higher interest rates, can impact their job performance.
Employees often find themselves under pressure from their everyday financial challenges. This pressure can bleed over into work performance, directly impacting productivity. Morgan Stanley’s State of the Workplace 2025 report found that 66% of employees indicated that financial stress was negatively impacting their work and personal life. The study further revealed that 91% would have a greater investment in the company if their employer provided financial benefits that met their specific needs. And 84% of those surveyed believed their employers should be assisting them with their financial issues.
Modern employee benefits that focus on financial wellness can address this need. It’s important to note that financial wellness isn’t simply about bolstering employee savings and building their credit standing. Providing programs that enable employees to protect themselves against the threat of identity theft and fraud is equally important. One employee survey revealed that 77% of employees faced some form of identity theft in 2024, and 42% indicated that worries about this led to higher stress levels at the workplace.
Providing a comprehensive financial wellness program that includes financial and credit literacy, as well as identity theft protection and restoration is not only good for employees, but for businesses as well.
A closer look at financial wellness tools
When modern employee benefits include financial wellness tools, companies are better able to secure top talent, improve retention, and increase overall workforce satisfaction.
Some tools that can help employees include:
- Identity protection and restoration – Businesses can offer employees vital tools they can use to avoid falling victim to identity theft and fraud. Such a tool can monitor personal information, send potential fraud alerts, and provide invaluable resolution services to aid in faster recovery. By minimizing fraud risk, employees feel their personal information is safe, which allows them to focus on being productive.
- Credit education and financial management – When employers offer a comprehensive credit education and financial management program, employees can gain crucial best practices for paying down debt and increasing their credit score. This type of guidance is absolutely critical for empowering employees to set goals, make actionable plans, and track their progress. Providing instructive credit education resources demonstrates the employer’s commitment to supporting employees beyond the office.
- Device and data protection – Employees are acutely aware of the constant threats to their personal data. Providing tools that can empower team members to take ownership of their financial data and protect their information from falling into the wrong hands is essential. Employers can provide proactive digital privacy tools that help keep passwords and other personal information private and secure while browsing.
- Digital identity management and exposure remediation – As data breaches continue to rise, employees need support reclaiming control of their personal information. Digital identity management tools can help individuals identify where their data has been exposed online, remove or suppress sensitive information from risky sites, and monitor for future exposure.
Modern employee benefits from a trusted source
When offering modern employee benefits geared toward financial wellness, it is important that these tools come from a trusted source. Experian® is a leader in the industry, supporting and protecting more than one billion consumerswith a proven track record of credit education and identity protection. Experian’s My Financial Expert® platform, which offers more than 50 powerful financial wellness features, helps employees be better prepared to manage their financial well-being.
Employers can also avail themselves of an anonymized and aggregated analysis of the overall financial health of the company’s employee population. By utilizing metrics such as credit snapshot, debt-to-income (DTI) ratio, credit delinquencies and more, Experian offers a roadmap to tailor benefit strategies that meet the specific needs of employees.
When modern employee benefits include robust, easy-to-use financial wellness tools, employees feel supported. By educating and enabling employees to address pressing financial and security concerns, employers are able to reduce stress, minimize distraction and improve job satisfaction. This can lead to better job retention and the ability to attract high-quality applicants.
In short, modern benefits can be a potent tool that shows employers value their employees, while improving productivity and strengthening the business.
Watch our recent webinar or visit our website to learn more about our financial wellness programs.
