While on the job, employees are often worried about the rising cost of food and that concern is now affecting their productivity, according to a new report.

“Hunger is no longer only a crisis for those who are unemployed or in a situation of extreme poverty, it’s affecting people who are working hard every day," Peter Tzanetakis, president and chief executive officer of the National Payroll Institute (NPI) said to PeopleNX in an interview. "Our recent survey is alarming as it revealed many workers are cutting back; taking on debt and carrying the stress of food insecurity into every part of their lives, including the workplace.”

“One in four working Canadians indicated that they struggle to afford their basic food needs.”

The organization recently released a new study, entitled Cost of Hunger for Working Canadians Survey. It polled 1,419 employed Canadians between March 19 and April 2, using an online panel methodology conducted by Framework Analytics Inc.

The new research showed that food costs are rising and 53 per cent of respondents have noticed that it has gotten worse over the past year, while 43 per cent see it as a severe issue.

Taking on debt to pay for food

In order to cope with this, Canadian workers are using alternate methods to purchase groceries.

“As this affordability pressure persists, many are relying on debt and in some cases credit card debt just to put food on the table. It is really having a profound impact on a lot of people, both from a food and security perspective, but also from a financial perspective as well,” Tzanetakis said.

The cost to companies is “astounding” and NPI calculated it amounts to $65.2 billion each year in lost productivity, he said.

“Three quarters of employed Canadians say that they worry about food being affordable while at work, and a significant number of them are also reporting that they have decreased productivity due to hunger as a result.”

But it’s not affecting all types of employees equally.

“Workers that have inconsistent income or part-time workers are more likely to experience a vulnerability to food insecurity. It’s that unpredictable pay, and that can intensify the stress and make an already difficult situation even harder,” Tzanetakis said.

Those workers with unstable pay dates are 29 per cent more likely to experience food insecurity, according to the report.

Food insecurity affecting worker wellbeing

Workers surveyed also reported negative health impacts due to these ongoing worries, according to Tzanetakis.

“About a third of working Canadians indicated that the difficulty of affording nutritious food has negatively affected their health and a significant number of them are reporting even losing weight due to food insecurity. Food insecurity is not just a financial issue, it’s actually having a health impact as well, and that should be concerning.”

So what can be done to alleviate this growing concern? For Tzanetakis, employers should consider offering “employer-sponsored emergency savings accounts,” so that more Canadians can weather these types of economic storms.

“Most employers have the capability to do that through their payroll professional or department, and using the payroll technology that they’re using. It’s offered to every employee across the organization, and set up to have that automatic deduction from your pay, so you don’t think about it . . . so when shocks like this happen, it is something that can help alleviate that pressure.”

By deploying this enforced savings program, it can help build financial resiliency.

“It doesn’t matter what the emergency is, where the inflation is coming in, or where the unexpected turbulence might come the next day. Having that emergency savings in your back pocket is going to be really, really critical to deal with some of these shocks to the system,” Tzanetakis said.