What’s often missed is why this happens.
December is the most financially, emotionally, and cognitively demanding month of the year for employees. And its effects don’t magically disappear on January 1st.
In Ozzie’s December 2025 survey of full-time employees across the U.S., 82% reported higher financial stress in December compared to a typical month. Over 70% described feeling anxious or overwhelmed about money, while nearly 50% admitted to avoiding financial tasks altogether because the stress felt too heavy.
That stress doesn’t stay neatly contained in employees’ personal lives.
Nearly 50% of respondents reported taking on debt to cover holiday expenses, and among those, the majority said repayment stress peaks in January and February. Employees are expected to return to work energized — but many start Q1 cognitively depleted, financially strained, and distracted.
The business impact is real. Almost 65% of employees reported spending up to five hours per week at work dealing with money stress — worrying, checking balances, or managing fallout from December decisions. For a mid-size company, that distraction alone can translate into hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost productivity in Q1.
This pattern has a name: the January Financial Hangover.
It’s predictable. It’s measurable. And it’s largely invisible — until it shows up as missed goals, disengagement, absenteeism, or turnover.
We’ve put together a short white paper breaking down what’s actually happening in December, why January performance is affected, and what HR and people leaders can do differently to protect focus, productivity, and morale.
