How financial stress shows up on SA Inc’s bottom lines

Executives have plenty to keep them up at night - from looming deadlines and impossible budget constraints to team dynamics and exceeding their KPIs - the financial stress of their team members is surely something they can ignore. Unfortunately not.

Data from the Wealthbit 2026 Employee Benefits Report shows the following:

70% of workers in the Middle East and Africa are living from paycheck to paycheck.38% of South African consumers battled to pay at least one bill in the first quarter of 2025, up from 35% in the fourth quarter of 2024.The South African Reserve Bank puts household debt to income at 62%.29% of emerging high-income earners have no emergency funds, proving this issue is not confined to low-income earners.

“This high level of financial stress means that a third of your people are not able to absorb financial shocks,” warns Alex Cook, Chief Executive Officer of fintech company Wealthbit.

The Hidden Cost of Financial Stress

The cost of not addressing financial stress is huge, felt most acutely in absenteeism, presenteeism and high churn rates, which is why employers need to pay much closer attention to the issue.

Financially stressed employees are far more likely to look for other work, pushing companies’ churn rates above 50%, forcing companies to foot replacement costs, including to recruit and train new employees, and then wait at least three months for them to get up to speed. High churn rates also rob companies of business relationships and institutional knowledge.

Productivity Loss and Presenteeism

Losing staff is expensive, but dis-engaged employees can also be costly. Presenteeism, or when people are physically in the office but mentally absent, can lead to a loss of an average of 27.5 days per year. The cost of this is often felt in the mistakes made when people are not paying full attention to their work.

“Do you want your knowledge workers to have their minds occupied with financial stress rather than their work?” asks Cook.

A recent PwC survey found that financially stressed staff members were off four more days than other workers, illustrating the high cost of absenteeism. When a staff member is missing, companies have to spend more on overtime or hiring temporary workers.

A R250 Billion Problem

The cost to companies of employees’ distraction and dis-engagement cannot be ignored. The Wealthbit 2026 Employee Benefits Report puts it as high as R250 billion annually - a price tag that demands attention.

As Cook says, “Money is one of the biggest sources of stress in people’s lives. When money turns into cognitive load, it shows up at work in productivity, in focus, and eventually it becomes a retention risk. The good news is it's not mysterious. You can measure it, you can prioritise it, and you can reduce it with the right players.”

For further information please visit https://wealthbit.co/