GiftCard Partners Blog

The new year is a time when employees feel refreshed, ready to pick up new habits, fulfill 2023 resolutions, and take on more challenges. It is a unique moment on the calendar, and often in the fiscal year when employers have the chance to motivate employees to perform their best work and put practices in place that set them up for a successful work year.

As much of the U.S. gets back to a “new normal” with the COVID-19 pandemic waning, many businesses that require either low-wage, hourly, or exclusively in-person workforces are still finding themselves short-staffed. These sectors of the American workforce are critical to the healing of the economy and for getting individual businesses back to operating at pre-pandemic levels. 

The debate over office vs. dispersed workforce is a hot topic for any industry that can support a permanent remote workforce. Many companies are deciding to keep remote workers due to the effectiveness in productivity as well as reduced costs. Others are turning to a hybrid model, mixing in-person work days (that are either mandatory or at the discretion of individuals or teams) with remote office days. While working from anywhere has benefits for both employers and employees, it also represents a huge shift in how Americans work. That shift happened in an instant at the beginning of the pandemic as a matter of necessity and now companies are more carefully considering how they want their employees to work.  

Personal finance is ranked as a leading cause of employee stress in the United States each year. Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners found that nearly 50% of U.S. employees suffer from financial stress and The American Psychological Association conducted a study that concluded 72% of Americans have stressed over money at least once in the past month.

It may be a new year, but that hasn’t erased the employee burnout or safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether a business is operating remotely or managing under new safety protocols to bring back an in-person workforce, employee absenteeism remains a costly challenge to employers.