A dimension that many organizations often overlook is "financial well-being." Debt problems can affect employees at all levels, not just low-income workers, impacting concentration, decision-making, and productivity directly. When organizations care for people holistically, employees not only perform better but also help the organization grow sustainably.
Startling statistics show that among every 10 employees, about 8 carry debt, and among them, 3 have informal debts. Additionally, one-third of employees face debt problems—whether informal debt or overdue payments—and 60% of operational-level employees are living paycheck to paycheck. "Living paycheck to paycheck." Such situations create significant challenges for organizations in many aspects.
Based on seven to eight years of experience, Noburo, an online platform providing financial welfare and loan services to partner company employees, helps manage financial problems and plan debt repayments so employees can overcome debt and save substantial money within a few months.
Noburo was founded on the belief that no one intends to have financial problems or debt; rather, it results from lack of knowledge or improper management, and with appropriate guidance, people can escape this cycle.
This was explained by Thisana Thitisaksakul, co-founder and CEO of Noburo. She said Noburo works to change behaviors, provide financial education, and create driving mechanisms, starting with the “90-Day Debt Elimination Mission” plan in collaboration with Good Money, a subsidiary of the Government Savings Bank, supporting welfare loans.
However, after some time, they realized that organizational financial problems were not only about heavy or informal debt, so they expanded to financial health check systems, workshops, consultation clinics, and building saving discipline to prevent employees from falling back into debt.
Over the course of working with 260 organizations, Noburo has helped about 17,000 employees to free themselves from debt, reducing over 350 million baht in total debt, with 30% being informal debt. They have also helped build nearly 40 million baht in savings.
Creating organizations with sustainable financial health remains a challenging task because financial problems are structural issues that even the government has tried to resolve for decades. Noburo’s lessons show that if organizations follow key factors correctly, they have a 60-70% chance of successfully solving employee financial problems.
The first lesson is that financial welfare benefits provided by organizations—such as welfare loans, social security, provident funds, or early withdrawal options—do not equate to good financial well-being. Especially among younger generations like Gen Alpha, financial problems worsen due to digital services encouraging “buy now, pay later” behavior, so debt and lack of savings persist.
Secondly, debt solutions involving “debt consolidation” or new loans merely shift debt from one place to another without addressing root behavioral causes. For example, government officials, teachers, military, or police officers have high welfare and can access loans up to 90 times their salary, yet many Thai teachers remain heavily in debt, sometimes facing wage deductions or using funeral funds to repay debt, with some even facing bankruptcy lawsuits near retirement.
Lastly, educational activities alone do not ensure sustainability, as employees often revert to old behaviors within three days after training if they do not actively practice changes.
To achieve real change, Noburo developed the “Wave of Building a Sustainable Financial Organization,” consisting of three key levels. The most important for driving organizational change is the leadership level, which must set top-down direction integrating financial policies into organizational strategies, not just approving budgets.
Next is the organizational and team level, which must create systems, cultures, and safe spaces for financial conversations. Lastly is the individual level, where employees must move from awareness to actual behavioral change.
For individual behavioral change, the starting point is not forcing income-expense tracking but helping employees rediscover their personal financial dreams—whether a happy retirement, supporting family, or saving for travel.
Financial planning—managing expenses, debt, and risks—is done to fulfill these dreams. In reality, employees with financial problems often lose 50-70% of their income to debt burdens. For informal debts charging 50%, sometimes up to 70-300% interest, cash flow cycles prevent any savings.
Therefore, reclaiming this money to manage debt frees up funds for savings, starting with an emergency fund of 3-6 months’ expenses for current needs, then building retirement savings for the future. Research from the U.S. surveying 8,000 people globally shows that financial happiness requires two components: a long-term vision with clear goals and plans, and self-discipline to follow those plans, eliminating debts one by one to build savings that positively impact families.
At the organizational level, creating safe spaces is vital because financial behavioral problems seen on the surface often hide complex underlying causes. Examples include companies encouraging employees to grow salad greens at the factory to reduce expenses and selling excess for extra income, or addressing after-work drinking by providing employees with 20-baht meal packs to take home, reducing alcohol consumption, improving health, and increasing savings.
Another example is the “Mission to Save 100,000” campaign at Maneejan Hotel, with 106 employees (30% foreigners). Initially, Thai employees doubted they could save even 500 baht monthly, but when divided into 10 teams aiming to save 1 million baht collectively in 5 months, employees averaged savings of 3,800 baht monthly, exceeding the national average.
Similarly, the “Mission to Save Wealth” encouraged employees to save a minimum of 500 baht for a chance to win prizes monthly, shifting organizational conversations from lottery guesses to investment discussions.
At the executive and strategic level, organizations must start by analyzing employee personas and financial health—from normal to challenging to crisis groups—to tailor precise solutions, whether for informal debts, heavy debts not yet overdue, overdue debts under legal enforcement, debt-free but no savings, or near-retirement employees still burdened by housing and car loans. For example, SCB’s debt problem-solving started with the Sustainability board collaborating with HR, People, Welfare, Cooperative, and Academy teams, working weekly with Noburo.
They also established internal financial mentors for sustainability, linked mental health support for severe stress cases, coordinated welfare loan refinancing, and created channels for sales staff with reduced income to find extra work. Meanwhile, the Provincial Electricity Authority’s senior executives led by example in savings, achieving great success.
Although organizational financial management and national debt problems totaling 16.4 trillion baht are tough and require immense effort, if organizations begin by assessing situations, developing suitable strategies, and receiving management support, they can transform employees from being trapped by debt to having surplus cash, savings, and the ability to fulfill dreams and give back positively to society.
In the working world, employee debt is no longer just a personal issue but an "invisible cost" directly impacting organizations in undeniable ways.
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