Financial worries rise among Swiss workers

38% of surveyed employees say financial problems are harming their lives, a sharp rise from 25% two years earlier. The findings point to a widening strain among workers in Switzerland, with more respondents also rating their own finances poorly. In the 2026 survey, 27% described their financial situation as poor, up from 16% in 2024.

The shift comes through in workers’ expectations for later life, too. Almost half, 49%, expect to be worse off in retirement than their parents’ generation, while 35% fear their pension fund benefits will fall. Together, the responses show that financial pressure reaches beyond day-to-day budgets into concerns about future security.

WTW, the consultancy behind the survey, questioned around 1,000 employees in Switzerland between February and May 2026. Its findings place personal finances, retirement expectations and workplace experience in the same picture of growing concern.

Nearly one in two respondents expect to retire with less financial security than their parents’ generation. In the WTW survey, 49% said they expect to be worse off in retirement. Another 35% fear that pension fund benefits will fall, adding to concerns about income after work ends.

The figures show how workers’ financial worries extend beyond their current circumstances. More than a quarter of respondents, 27%, described their finances as poor, compared with 16% in 2024. At the same time, 38% said money problems were negatively affecting their lives, up from 25% two years earlier.

These are workers’ expectations and fears, rather than a forecast of pension outcomes. But the survey records a clear shift in how employees view their prospects: fewer respondents feel financially secure now, and many anticipate a weaker position in retirement than the generation before them. The results cover employees surveyed across Switzerland from February to May 2026.

Financial strain is showing up in workers’ experience on the job. Employees under significant financial pressure take almost twice as many days off as those with few financial worries. They also report feeling burnt out more than twice as often, according to WTW’s survey findings.

Job-change intentions have moved in a different direction. The share considering a change fell to 23%, down from 38% in 2024. Yet the proportion who feel trapped in their current job and would leave if they could rose from 12% to 18% over the same period.

Those findings describe two different experiences: fewer employees are actively considering a move, while more say they would change jobs if circumstances allowed. The survey does not offer a single explanation for the shift, but it puts reduced mobility alongside financial strain, absence and burnout. For employers, the responses make financial wellbeing relevant to everyday workplace concerns as well as workers’ longer-term plans.

Three-quarters of respondents say employer-provided benefits matter when choosing a workplace, up from 42% in 2024. The increase makes benefits a more prominent part of how employees assess employers, as financial concerns grow across the survey’s findings.

Access and communication remain part of that picture. Only 47% of respondents said the combination of digital access, communication and support in using benefits was helpful. The results suggest that offering benefits and helping employees understand how to use them are distinct parts of the workplace experience.

WTW surveyed around 1,000 employees in Switzerland from February to May 2026. Its wider study included around 41,000 people across 31 markets. For Swiss employers, the responses connect benefits with recruitment choices, while also recording workers’ concerns about current finances, burnout and retirement. The survey captures employee views at a time when more respondents report financial problems affecting their lives than in 2024.