Employers across various U.S. industries and regions are struggling to meet their employees' health care benefits needs — and employee satisfaction, wellbeing, and retention are at stake, according to the 13th annual Aflac WorkForces Report released by Aflac Incorporated, a leading provider of supplemental health insurance and products in the United States.
The report tracks the state of the American workplace among employees and employers, year over year, to capture trends, attitudes, needs, and experiences in health care and benefits administration.
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The nationally representative survey features responses from more than 1,200 employers and 2,000 employees in various industries, and researchers says it underscores employees' concerns about mental health — especially burnout.
Consistent with 2022 survey findings, more than half of all American workers (57%) say they currently are experiencing at least moderate levels of burnout. The most significant culprit is workplace stress — with heavy workloads as the biggest stressor — and it's disproportionately affecting women and younger workers.
"Survey results on mental health and wellbeing in the workplace are alarming and continue to be challenging, but employers can face these challenges head-on and turn them into opportunities," Jeri Hawthorne, senior vice president and chief human resources officer for Aflac, said in a statement. "Offering benefits that include mental health tools and resources, in addition to work-life balance perks, such as flexible work schedules, can help with employee satisfaction, retention, and recruitment."
Other survey findings:
• Employees' confidence in how much their employers care about them has declined significantly: 48% in 2023; 56% in 2022; and 59% in 2021.
• The overwhelming majority (89%) of employees who report high levels of burnout also have experienced other mental health challenges over the past year, including anxiety, depression, and trouble sleeping.
• 67% of Gen Z and 64% of millennials say they are facing moderate to high levels of burnout.
• 78% of employers believe their employees are highly satisfied with their benefits, compared to only 59% of employees who express high satisfaction.
• 79% of employers think employees understand benefits costs well, while fewer than half (48%) of employees say they do.
Financial fragility, smarter choices
Employees' stress and anxiety about their financial health are caused not only by rising costs, but also by the potential of unexpected medical expenses, Aflac officials noted. This has led employees to spend less and save more over the past year, according to the survey. While more employees have financial resources on hand to cover a medical emergency, compared to last year, the state of financial wellness among American workers — and their outlook on the economy — remains fragile.
More than half (51%) of employees have savings on hand for a medical bill, up from 45% in 2022, but 50% can't afford more than $1,000 in out-of-pocket medical expenses, the survey indicated. And only 54% of employees say they could survive a month without a paycheck, down from 62% in 2022. What's more, half of employees think the economy is worse than it was a year ago; 30% indicate that they are in a worse financial position than they were a year ago.
Additionally, financial instability disproportionately impacts Hispanic workers, according to the survey, which revealed that 66% of all Hispanic workers could not go more than a month without a paycheck — compared to 51% of non-Hispanic workers.
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