Financial worries of retail employees is costing the sector £7bn a year
Britain's retail workers are so stressed about their personal finances that the industry is paying £7bn for employees taking time off work.
Research out today found that 1.7m hours are lost by retail employees taking time off due to financial stress. Nearly three quarters (74 per cent) of staff admitted to being burdened by money worries, a number that rises to 84 per cent for workers under 34.
The survey from alternative finance provider Neyber surveyed almost 1,200 retail workers to look at how financial worries impact their productivity.
Monica Kalia, co-founder of Neyber, said: "Workers in the retail sector have become some of the hardest hit by cuts to employee benefits in recent months as employers look to recoup the cost of introducing the national living wage. While the move to increase incomes for those on the lowest wage should be welcomed it's been a significant burden for a numbers of retail businesses to swallow.
"However, cutting access to benefits for hardworking staff is not fair and employers need to ensure they nurture the financial wellbeing of their employees to develop a more motivated and better-performing workforce.
"This report highlights the very serious implications that money concerns can have on a workforce; retail workers are affected by the financial anxiety more than the average UK worker, so it's clear that action is needed from employers to provide access to fairer finance."