Nearly three-fourths of American workers believe that the cost of living is outpacing their wages, according to Bank of America’s 12th annual Workplace Benefits Report.
According to a news release announcing the results, “71% feel the cost of living is outpacing growth in their salary or wages. This is having an impact on employees’ overall feeling of financial wellness.”
The 71% figure was up from 58% in February. In addition, 80% of employees are concerned about inflation and 62% of employees are stressed about their finances.
The report also found that 46% of employers have seen an increase in resignations over the past year, and “approximately one in three employees have switched jobs or thought about switching jobs in the past year.”
“Employees are feeling stressed by current economic conditions and they are looking for help from their employers across a range of financial and other wellness topics,” Lorna Sabbia, head of retirement and personal wealth solutions at Bank of America, said of the report.
The report comes as the United States economy has suffered from soaring inflation since April 2021, shortly after President Biden took office. According to a recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices rose 0.1% in August 2022 and 8.3% from the year before. Core inflation, which excludes volatile gas and energy prices, rose 0.6% in August and 6.3% from the year before.
Due to the inflation crisis, the real wages of American workers have fallen sharply. According to a separate report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Real average weekly earnings decreased 0.1 percent over the month due to the change in real average hourly earnings combined with a 0.3-percent decrease in the average workweek.”
The real wages of Americans fell even further over the last year. According to the report, “Real average hourly earnings decreased 2.8 percent, seasonally adjusted, from August 2021 to August 2022. The change in real average hourly earnings combined with a decrease of 0.6 percent in the average workweek resulted in a 3.4-percent decrease in real average weekly earnings over this period.”
