Global employers face growing gap between financial health investment and employee impact, nudge research finds

June 17, 2026, New international research from global financial health platform nudge reveals a significant gap between employer investment in financial health and the outcomes employees are experiencing.

The 2026 research covers international employers representing a combined workforce of approximately 5.5 million people. It finds that 95% of employers consider financial wellbeing a priority, while 99% provide some form of financial wellbeing support.

Yet separate nudge research among 11,510 employees across 17 countries paints a different picture.

Only 29% of employees globally feel fully on top of their retirement planning, while just 24% are saving enough each month to achieve their financial goals. Global financial literacy has also fallen to 67%, down from 86% in 2023.

Taken together, the findings reveal what nudge describes as an “intent-to-impact gap”: employers are investing in financial health, but that investment is not consistently translating into financial action or stronger employee outcomes.

Tim Perkins, CEO and Co-Founder of nudge, said:

“Employers clearly recognize the importance of financial health and are investing in support. The opportunity now is to make sure that investment translates into meaningful action for employees. That means moving beyond simply providing more resources to creating a more personalized experience that helps each person understand what matters to them, what they can do next, and how their workplace benefits can help.”

Only half of employers say their financial health strategy is effective

Despite widespread investment, only 49% of employers say their financial wellbeing strategy is running effectively. At the same time, just 36% of employees say they feel their employer is genuinely invested in their financial goals, down from 44% in 2025.

Employers are investing across a broad range of financial needs. Support for major life events such as retirement, redundancy, and family changes is the most commonly provided in the employer research, at 69%. This is followed by employer-sponsored retirement savings plans at 62%, retirement savings education, and planning tools at 56%, and mental health support related to financial stress at 56%.

The challenge, therefore, is not simply whether financial support exists, but whether employees can find it, understand it, and act on it when it matters.

What are more effective financial health strategies doing differently?

The research identifies nine areas that can help employers turn financial health investment into measurable impact, spanning leadership, personalization, communications, integration, and measurement.

Executive sponsorship is one differentiator. Among employers with effective strategies, 92% have executive sponsorship, compared with 81% of those with ineffective strategies. Yet only 46% of employers overall say senior leadership sponsorship is running effectively.

How financial health support is communicated also matters. Among employers using timely, tailored communications, 86% report good engagement, compared with 40% of those using one-size-fits-all communications.

The research points to building support around moments when employees are more likely to act, including onboarding, pay reviews, and major life events, while keeping the next step clear and simple.

Integration remains another challenge. Only 46% of employers feel financial wellbeing is effectively integrated into the wider business. The research recommends connecting financial guidance more closely with existing employee benefits and workplace touchpoints rather than treating financial health as a standalone initiative.

Measuring financial health outcomes, not just employee engagement

Measurement is another important part of closing the gap between financial health investment and impact.

Among employers that formally measure ROI, 97% report evidence of impact. But activity measures alone, such as participation or engagement, cannot show whether an employee’s financial position has actually changed.

For a fuller picture, employers can look at engagement alongside financial outcomes, including savings, retirement contributions, and confidence, as well as broader business measures.

This represents a shift from asking “Did employees use it?” to asking “What changed as a result?”

Why employee financial health matters beyond the benefits team

Employee financial health can also have implications for the wider workforce and business.

Employees who have access to both financial education and benefits support report lower levels of anxiety than those without that combination, at 24% versus 34%, and lower levels of stress, at 30% versus 39%.

There is also a relationship with retention. Employees who feel their employer genuinely cares about their financial goals are more likely to say they are committed to staying, at 50% versus 40%.

However, the proportion of employees who feel that sense of employer care has fallen from 44% in 2025 to 36% in 2026.

The findings suggest that an effective workplace financial health strategy increasingly needs to connect employee education, workplace benefits, and the moments in people’s lives when financial decisions are being made.

Rather than adding more disconnected resources, the opportunity for employers is to understand where employees need support, make existing benefits easier to navigate, personalize guidance to individual circumstances, and measure whether that support ultimately leads to better outcomes.

For nudge, this is the next phase of workplace financial health: moving beyond access and engagement toward personalized financial action and measurable impact.

About the research

The report, Financial wellbeing at work: from intent to impact, brings together two pieces of research conducted by Censuswide.

nudge’s 2026 employer research surveyed international employers at director level and above, representing a combined workforce of approximately 5.5 million employees. In the U.S., participating organizations had more than 5,000 employees. The research was conducted April 14–29, 2026.

The employee research surveyed 11,510 employed people across 17 countries, including the U.S., UK, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, and the UAE. It was conducted January 23–February 3, 2026.

Explore the full report, Financial wellbeing at work: from intent to impact, to discover the nine areas employers can focus on to turn financial health investment into measurable impact.