Webinar Recording: Exploring the "2025 Workplace at Work Report" and what it means for Founders, HR & Finance Leaders.
1. What’s inside Morgan Stanley’s 2025 Workplace Report (and why it matters)
Rodney shared a five-year running survey of 1,000 U.S. employees and 600 HR leaders that tracks financial well-being, equity comp, retirement readiness, and the benefits landscape. The team segments results by generation, gender, tenure, company size, and industry—surfacing nuances leaders miss in “top-line” views.
Why you should care: These slices explain who is financially stressed, why, and which benefits actually help retention at your stage and size.
Watch: 2:22
2. Tenure & company size: the strongest stress signals
Employees with <10 years at their company and those at <500-employee firms report:
Cutting retirement contributions and debt payments
Lower emergency savings
Higher financial stress hits productivity and life at home
Action: If you’re sub-500 headcount or scaling fast, emphasize budgeting tools, emergency savings, and simple retirement nudges (auto-enroll/escalate).
Watch: 4:35
3. AI: real productivity, unclear rules
Employees widely use AI, often off the books (via personal tools and unsanctioned data inputs), but many hide their usage from employers. Anxiety persists regarding performance reviews and whether AI “helps” discount human contributions.
Action for HR/Finance/IT:
Publish a clear AI policy (approved tools, data rules, review expectations)
Train teams; pair usage with governance & security
Align performance frameworks so AI augments, not penalizes
Watch: 8:01
4. Leaner orgs, more fractional help
Gavin sees early-stage companies staying lean longer, utilizing fractional partners across accounting, finance, equity administration, legal, and IT—while keeping sales/product in-house. Hardware/deep-tech is a notable exception: climbing headcount due to complexity.
Action: Consider fractional partners to extend runway and raise quality without permanent headcount—especially in back office and compliance.
Watch: 11:44
5. Benefits are the new retention engine
HR leaders rank hiring & retention as the top priority—but think targeted hires, not volume. More teams report they’re on track to offer benefits competitors don’t.
Action: Strengthen your mix:
Equity + retirement + ESPP for ownership culture
Financial wellness for day-to-day budgeting & debt
Short-term incentives earlier in the lifecycle (start ~100 employees)
Watch: 14:13
6. Equity education ≠ understanding
Employees love equity for “a stake in the company’s success.” HR frames it as a long-term wealth lever—yet financially stressed employees find equity education to be the least effective.
Action: Teach “how to use equity” (not just what it is):
Scenario guides (ISOs/NSOs/RSUs, taxes, selling windows)
Milestone playbooks (buying a home, liquidity prep)
Office hours with plan admin/FA
Watch: 15:02
7. Comp trends: merit, mega-bases & vesting shifts
Merit increases hover around 3.5% overall; VC-backed firms often offer 5–5.5% on base for roles they must retain.
“Super-base” salaries appear for scarce AI talent; candidates often prefer cash now over multi-year equity.
Some firms move to shorter vesting horizons or annual grants to match faster product cycles and talent mobility.
Action: Match comp design to role scarcity and business velocity (e.g., annual refresh + shorter vest cliffs for rapid-impact AI roles).
Watch: 19:44
8. Funding & exits: AI soaks up capital; acquihires rise
~60% of recent funding flowing to AI startups
More seed/Series A acquisitions and acquihires, including cross-border teams
Action: If you’re not AI-core, expect longer raises; keep burn tight and articulate “non-AI” defensibility. For AI teams, anticipate talent bids—lock with comp + culture.
Watch: 24:21
9. Gender lens & access to equity
Women report higher financial stress; they are more focused on budgeting and debt
Men are slightly more likely to receive equity grants
80%+ of employees without equity say they want it
Action: Audit who gets equity and how much. Consider ESPP or broad-based grants to promote broader participation and a culture of ownership.
Watch: 26:24
10. Can AI be the CEO?
Panel consensus: not soon. Leadership still sets culture and strategy. Still, 38% of employees say they’d prefer an AI manager—a reminder to modernize management practices while keeping the human center.
Watch: 31:46
Countsy’s POV and how we help
Countsy supports venture-backed startups and growth companies with day-to-day operations—accounting & finance, payroll & people ops, and stock plan administration—so lean teams can scale smarter, stay compliant, and retain talent with the right mix of equity and benefits.
Watch: 30:24
Get the full Morgan Stanley at Work report.
Rodney offered to share the report with attendees. Reach out to him directly.
Watch: 34:04
Want help applying these insights?
If you’re revisiting your equity strategy, bonus plans, or back-office stack, Countsy can help you design, run, and explain programs that retain talent and pass audit muster.