9 out of 10 young employees are always stressed about the question “Will I make it to payday?”

While employers are scratching their heads over how to improve employee efficiency, the real problem may be hiding somewhere entirely different — in a banking app.

A new study has shown that financial anxiety among zoomers (born roughly between 1997 and 2012) and millennials (1981–1996) has reached a level that is beginning to directly hit workplace productivity. Young employees are increasingly distracted by calculating expenses, checking their card balance, looking for side jobs, and trying to figure out how to survive at all in the face of constantly rising prices.

The main source of stress is predictable — the cost of living. For several years in a row, rising prices have remained the top concern for younger generations. More than half of Generation Z and millennial respondents admit that financial difficulties are causing them to postpone the most important life decisions: buying a home, starting a family, or pursuing further education.

The problem has long since moved beyond personal worries. When a person is wondering whether they will have enough money until the next paycheck, it is difficult to fully focus on work. Studies show that most employees experience financial stress, and employers are increasingly noticing lower engagement and concentration among staff.

Social media is making the situation worse. Young people see other people’s successes, expensive trips, new cars, and apartments every day. Against this backdrop, their own financial situation starts to seem even worse, even if objectively it is no different from that of most of their peers.

By comparison, boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) turned out to be in a more favorable position. Many people in this generation managed to buy homes and accumulate capital before the sharp price increases of recent decades, which is why financial anxiety among them is noticeably lower.

At the same time, many young employees are trying to make up for the lack of money with extra work. Around a third of Generation Z and a quarter of millennials already have side jobs in addition to their main employment. But instead of a sense of security, this often leads to even greater exhaustion and emotional burnout.

Experts note that employers should start treating employees’ financial well-being not as a personal issue for workers, but as a factor that directly affects business. If a person spends most of the day thinking about bills, loans, and rent, their efficiency inevitably declines.

The result is a paradoxical situation: companies invest millions in artificial intelligence, automation, and new technologies, yet they lose productivity because employees are simply worried about money. And as the cost of living continues to rise faster than wages, this problem will only become more noticeable.