Engineering Siemens financial confidence: 30% increase in retirement contributions

• Established: 1847
• Industry: Technology
• No. of employees: 320,000
• Countries operated in: 20

The challenge

Siemens is a global technology company whose workforce spans more than 160 countries. It takes the same forward-looking approach to supporting its people as it does to build its technology.

So when Siemens looked at helping their employees’ financial health, they found a serious problem: analysis showed 83% of employees were on course to fall short of a comfortable retirement income, and saving for life after work was their single biggest financial worry. Siemens had invested heavily in retirement communications before, but behavior hadn't moved. Left unchecked, that threatened an aging workforce unable to retire and fewer pathways for the younger talent coming up behind them.

Siemens wanted a partner who could tackle this challenge head-on and build a program durable enough to keep flexing over time, while supporting employees' broader financial health.

The solution

Siemens chose nudge, a financial health platform, for impartial, financial guidance, free of any product or provider bias and localized to each market.

The partnership started by addressing the retirement problem. Working with nudge, Siemens redesigned its retirement plan, introducing enhanced company-matched contributions aimed at the groups who needed them most.

Siemens paired this with nudge's personalized prompts, sent directly to employees' inboxes in the moments that matter and tailored to each person's age, salary, and contribution level. The personalization meant the message landed differently for a graduate than for someone a decade out of retirement. These messages were lined up with nudge and the retirement provider too, so people hear one consistent message at the points where a decision gets made.

That foundation proved its worth as conditions shifted. When the pandemic and then the cost-of-living squeeze changed what employees needed, nudge was already in place to support Siemens' people. Timely prompts and virtual masterclasses helped them build resilience as each new pressure arrived, so they could act with confidence rather than react after the fact.

Since 2018, the program has matured into an integral part of Siemens' wider people strategy, sitting alongside physical and mental health. It's built around the moments that matter in a working life, from onboarding and early careers through to open enrollment and retirement planning.

Siemens' workforce spans varied cultures, languages, and life stages. To reach more people, Siemens worked with members of its employee networks to introduce nudge to their own communities, so support came from a familiar voice and felt relevant rather than generic. That relevance led more employees to join nudge's money masterclasses, which covered topics such as planning for life after work and balancing family and finances. Their participation helped give Siemens a clearer view of where help was needed most, so future benefits investment could go where it would make the biggest difference.

The results

Employee impact

• 73% feel more confident about their financial future
• 72% feel more able to achieve life goals
• 91% of registered employees are regularly using nudge to improve their financial health

Employer impact

• 2,500+ employees increased their retirement contributions
• 30% increase in contributions from a third of employees

ROI

• 68% of employees feel more connected to Siemens, helping retain key talent.
• 16% less likely to leave if using nudge