Cape Town - As many as one third of companies have severe employee indebtedness problems which could eat away at a company's bottom line, a financial wellness expert cautions.
Indebted individuals affect the financial wellness of a business through decreased productivity – which in turn feeds back into the economy, says Shelley van der Westhuizen, Head of Business Financial Wellness and Client Experience at MMI Corporate & Public Sector.
Commenting on the findings of the recent MMI Unisa Consumer Financial Vulnerability Index (CFVI), which shows the South African consumer is financially “very exposed” in terms of debt servicing, Van der Westhuizen says businesses have as much a responsibility as the consumer to address the dismal state of indebtedness.