Financial services employers risk losing high-performing talent if they intervene too late when stress and ill health are identified, according to new data from Verve Healthcare.
In a survey of 500 HR managers and business owners, of which 7% operate within financial services, Verve found the sector to be among the worst offenders when it comes to intervening on employee health before it becomes a crisis.
When asked at what point their organisation typically intervenes when work-related stress or ill health is identified, 10% said only after long-term absence begins, 14% only when performance issues arise, 13% admitted they do not typically intervene at all, and 9% were not sure what their organisation’s position was.
This late-intervention is mirrored in Verve’s employee survey of 2,000 UK workers across all sectors. The survey found that 17% of employees feel unsupported during periods of work-related stress or ill health, while nearly one in five employees reported falling into a grey area where issues are neither clearly addressed nor escalated.
The findings come as 2025 data from KPMG UK shows retention pressure in financial services, with one in four Gen Z employees estimated to have left the sector in the past year. Notably, 24% of financial leaders cite mental health and wellbeing as a factor driving younger talent to exit. [1]
Steven Pink, CEO of Verve Healthcare, commented:
“Financial firms will spend millions recruiting exceptional people, yet many are prepared to wait until those same people are off sick or underperforming before acting. That is commercially short-sighted. By the time someone is on long-term absence or showing performance decline, the health risk has already embedded itself.”
Verve’s argument is not simply that financial firms should do more, but that the structure of how health support is currently delivered is no longer fit for purpose.
As part of its mission to modernise the health assessment industry, Verve recently launched the Great British Health Check, a national initiative designed to help employers move from reactive to proactive health management.
Steven Pink added:
“Identifying risk factors such as high blood pressure, poor sleep, anxiety markers or cardiovascular risk, but failing to provide clinician-led pathways to treatment means risks are recorded, but not resolved.
“If financial services firms are serious about protecting performance, they must stop waiting for people to break before stepping in to fix the problem. Identifying risk is only step one. Acting on it, early and decisively, is what protects productivity, reduces long-term absence and safeguards top talent.”
[1] https://kpmg.com/uk/en/media/press-releases/2025/10/gen-z-employees-leave-financial-services.html
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