There’s a real shift happening in how organisations think about financial wellbeing and payroll – and to be honest, it’s overdue. 

For too long, they’ve lived in separate worlds. Payroll over here, ticking along in the background. Financial wellbeing over there, maybe in a benefits platform, someone checks twice a year. Different teams, different budgets, and different conversations.

But when you strip it all back, payroll is financial wellbeing, and financial wellbeing is payroll.

Think about it. What lands in someone’s bank account each month shapes absolutely everything – their confidence, their ability to plan ahead, how they show up at work, even whether they can sleep at night. 

When these two things operate in silos, people slip through the gaps. But when they work together? That’s when you unlock something genuinely powerful: financial fitness at scale.

Financial stress is now one of the biggest barriers to workforce performance

In our Financial Fitness at Work Report 2025, we surveyed 2,500 employees across the UK and Ireland about their financial experiences over the past year. And the headline finding?

92% experienced financial stress or worry in the last 12 months. Only 8% felt none at all.

That’s nine out of ten people.

And if we look at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s “Financial Lives Survey”, among adults in financial difficulty, one in ten people have no cash savings at all, while 21% have less than £1,000 to fall back on.

This is the everyday reality for nearly everyone walking through your doors. And if you think people are leaving that stress in the car park, think again.

Here’s what’s actually happening:

  • 45% say financial stress is affecting their sleep
  • 38% struggle to focus and concentrate
  • 26% are less productive
  • 19% are making more mistakes
  • 55% say it’s actively hindering their ability to learn and develop new skills

That last one is particularly important. More than half the workforce say financial worry is creating barriers to their growth.

So while we’re busy talking about the future of work, upskilling and reskilling, we’re missing the obvious: there is no future of work without financial confidence. People can’t focus on what’s next when they’re stuck in the panic of right now.

However, we can supercharge all of it by addressing the foundation first – financial confidence amplifies everything else. When people feel secure about their finances, they can fully engage with learning, development, and unlimit what’s next.

Payroll is already the centre of every financial decision

Every financial decision an employee makes starts with their pay. Paying rent, buying groceries, saving for something special, managing debt, or even planning for retirement. In fact, payroll is the most consistent, most trusted interaction employees have with their employer. 

As our CEO Abigail Vaughan puts it: “Payroll isn’t administrative. It’s foundational. Payday is where financial fitness begins.”

That is the strategic opportunity every organisation, no matter the size or industry, can seize: elevating payroll beyond being accurate and on time. The real potential lies in recognising payroll as the gateway to financial resilience and confidence.

There’s a knowledge gap – and bridging it changes everything

However, one of the most striking findings from our research is the massive disconnect between what leaders believe they’re offering and what employees actually know about.

91% of leaders say they offer financial wellbeing support. But only 47% of employees are aware of it. The other half either say no or simply don’t know it exists.

The same pattern shows up with financial tools. 81% of leaders say they provide them, yet more than half of employees don’t know they have access.

When financial wellbeing sits outside payroll – in a benefits portal, tucked into an app, mentioned once during onboarding – it’s easy to overlook. 

Employees don’t typically go searching for financial wellbeing resources. But they do check their payslip. Every single month – without fail. It’s the natural centre of gravity for financial confidence. And it’s where organisations need to meet people if they want support to actually be used.

When you connect the dots, confidence grows

In fact, our research found that employees with access to financial wellbeing tools are measurably more optimistic about their future.

Among all employees, only 43% expect their financial situation to improve next year. But this rises to 52% for employees who receive financial wellbeing support at work. And it reaches 54% for those who have access to financial tools.

That’s a meaningful 10-point lift. And it’s the result of behaviour change.

When people can review their payslips over time, build savings directly from their pay, track income changes, or access financial education, it shifts how they feel about their future.

On that, 78% of employees say they contribute more when they feel confident about their finances. Among younger employees, that figure climbs to 83%.

That is where financial confidence becomes the ultimate performance multiplier. 

AI-enabled support is becoming the new normal

And technology is making it easier than ever to deliver this support at scale.

57% of employees say they’d find an AI assistant helpful for answering pay and benefits questions; 41% say faster response times matter most. And the most interesting insights? 31% say they’d feel less embarrassed asking AI than asking a person.

Financial questions carry emotional weight, and people want accuracy and clarity without judgment. They want answers where they already are – inside the payroll experience.

Leaders see the potential, too. 96% describe AI-enabled tools as helpful, with 70% calling them “very helpful.”

The beautiful thing about AI in payroll and financial wellbeing is that it isn’t replacing the human element in payroll. It’s removing friction, confusion, and wait times. It’s transforming payroll into a 24/7 financial wellbeing experience that meets people where they are, exactly when they need support.

This is practical empowerment in action. When payroll and financial wellbeing work as one unified experience, organisations create something powerful and sustainable.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

  • Intelligent payslips that help your people understand pay changes
  • Financial education built directly into the payroll experience
  • Savings tools that integrate seamlessly with pay
  • Early visibility into pay, deductions, tax, and trends 
  • Payroll teams repositioned as strategic partners in employee wellbeing.
  • A workforce that feels supported every single day

Unlimit what’s next for your performance infrastructure

When people feel financially secure, everything changes. Their performance, their confidence, their willingness to contribute, their focus, their resilience – and most importantly, their ability to grow.

Organisations that treat payroll as purely transactional will find themselves at a disadvantage.

The ones that recognise payroll as the engine of financial wellbeing? They’ll move faster, attract stronger talent, and build more engaged, resilient workforces.

And it all starts with payroll. 

When payroll and financial wellbeing finally work together, organisations stop firefighting stress and start building financial fitness, confidence, and momentum that benefits everyone.

That’s what’s next.

Ready to see how payroll can power financial wellbeing in your organisation? Book a demo to discover how Zellis can help you unlock financial fitness at scale.