What’s Keeping Employees Around? More Than Half Say Health, Retirement and Family Benefits

New Report from Payroll Integrations Finds Employee Financial Wellness is Rising, But 64% of Employers Admit They Could Do More

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Payroll Integrations, the unified payroll API simplifying employee benefits and financial wellness, has released the second part of its findings from its 2025 Employee Financial Wellness Report. The second annual report reveals that more than half (58%) of employees are staying in their current jobs because of their benefits. As employees face a slowing job market and an unpredictable economy, many are choosing stability–and their benefits–over new opportunities. Among those who cite their benefits as a reason to stay, 67% point to strong health insurance coverage, 53% to competitive retirement plans and 53% to family-related benefits.

Payroll Integrations’ Employee Financial Wellness Report explores the growing importance of financial wellness from both the employer and employee perspective. Part 2 of the report reveals that while employees are increasingly satisfied with their benefits and employers’ support of their financial wellness, there are still opportunities for employers to strengthen their offerings to fully meet employees’ needs. The findings also highlight how technology is reshaping benefits management and freeing HR teams from tedious admin work so they can focus more on supporting their employees.

The report is based on research conducted by market research firm Dynata, on behalf of Payroll Integrations.

Among the findings:

• Employees’ financial wellness is rising, but employers say they can do more. Nearly half of employees (44%) now feel completely supported in their financial wellness, up from 28% in 2024. Employers say they’re addressing current financial wellness gaps by offering retirement savings assistance (76%), healthcare premium coverage (52%) and HSA/FSA or medical reimbursements (51%)–but 64% say they could do more. Employees say higher cost-of-living adjustments (57%), access to budgeting tools (44%), retirement guidance (43%) and personalized benefit options (41%) would further boost their financial wellness.
• Employees prioritize core benefits, while employers focus on broader offerings. Forty-two percent (42%) of employees say their benefit needs are fully met with their current package. When asked which benefits would better support them beyond what’s currently offered, employees name financial and wellness compensation (33%), additional pay (32%) and mental health support (31%) as their top priorities after healthcare (36%) and retirement (33%). Employers, on the other hand, rank childcare assistance (39%), emergency savings accounts (37%) and health savings accounts (32%) as key additional offerings. This highlights a clear disconnect between what employers think employees value and what employees actually prioritize.
• Younger generations expect more from their employers. Today’s younger workers view comprehensive financial support as a standard employer responsibility. Nearly all Millennials (93%) and 85% of Gen Z workers say employers should help fill financial support gaps not currently met by government programs, compared with 80% of Gen X and 64% of Boomers. Generational differences also shape benefit priorities. When asked which benefits they want that aren’t currently available to them, 62% of Gen Z (age 18-27) say health insurance, 43% of Millennials (age 28-43) value fitness and wellness offerings, 43% of Gen X (age 44-59) prioritize additional compensation and 27% Boomers (age 60+) focus on retirement plans and pet insurance.
• Companies are spending too much time on admin, and not enough time with employees. More than a third (35%) of HR teams say they spend too much time on manual administrative work–averaging 11 hours a week, on payroll and benefits administration. Keeping up with changing regulations and compliance requirements (61%) and offering competitive benefits to attract talent (44%) are among their top challenges. If employers cut down their time spent on administrative work, they’d focus instead on speaking with employees about benefits (60%), boosting engagement and relationships (58%), and providing benefits education (56%).

“Employees have growing confidence in their financial wellness and their benefits, which is a strong sign that companies are headed in the right direction with their offerings, but there’s still work to be done for employers to fully align with employees’ needs,” said Doug Sabella, CEO of Payroll Integrations. “One of the biggest ways employers can increase their support is by automating the manual tasks that take up more than a quarter of their workweek to instead focus on employee priorities and ensure benefits are delivering real value.”

Payroll Integrations’ 2025 Employee Financial Wellness Report is based on responses from 250 full-time adult employees and HR leaders across four age groups and all 50 states. The complete report can be found here.

About Payroll Integrations

Payroll Integrations is the technology company that’s reimagining how employers support employees’ financial well-being through benefit automation. Their integration platform is used by more than 20,000 businesses to connect payroll with retirement, HSA and other employer-sponsored benefit plans for over one million employees. Payroll providers including ADP, Paychex, QuickBooks Online and others use Payroll Integrations to seamlessly connect with 401(k) benefit providers such as Empower, Transamerica, Principal, VOYA and John Hancock. Payroll Integrations is backed by Arthur Ventures and headquartered in San Diego.