A personal finance platform is urging employers to support their workforce’s financial wellbeing as it has been revealed that UK worker’s wages has fallen for the first time since 2014 year-on-year.
nudge, found that between June and July 2020 employees have been more concerned with scams, with 738 per cent increase in people searching how to avoid scams. At the same time, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has reported that workers’ pay was 0.3 per cent lower compared to March and May in 2019. Pay which takes inflation in to account also decreased by 0.2 per cent year-on-year.
The finance platform believes this worry of scams can have a damaging impact on productivity.
The most popular financial topics employees were looking in to before the lockdown were savings (16 per cent), tax (14 per cent) and investing (9 per cent), in June and July 2020 they became everyday finances (16 per cent), budgeting (14 per cent) and savings (12 per cent).
Jeremy Beament, co-founder and director at nudge, said:
For months, UK employees have been dealing with the financial shockwaves caused by the pandemic. With pay-cuts and redundancies on the rise, it looks like this may get worse before it gets better, and this financial stress will hit business productivity significantly.
This data demonstrates exactly how the financial lives of employees are being impacted by COVID-19, and why their needs are evolving. As we emerge out of the clutches of the pandemic, it is vital that employers take steps to help their workforce take control of their money during this uncertain period. Only by giving employees the lifelong skills and knowledge necessary to make great decisions, can companies feel the considerable benefits of a financially fit workforce.
However, the ONS did add that pay decline was most prevalent in industries where the majority of staff have been furloughed. Still, the spread of COVID-19 has led to a decline in household earnings, as Treasury research found that between February and May 2020, UK employees witnessed a 12 per cent or £102 a week drop in their pay.
Darius is the editor of HRreview. He has previously worked as a finance reporter for the Daily Express. He studied his journalism masters at Press Association Training and graduated from the University of York with a degree in History.
