According to the survey, 60 percent of working men put retirement saving at the top of their priority list, while just 44 percent of women did so. In fact, women considered saving for retirement way down the list, in fifth place, while paying daily living costs and paying off debt made the top two, at 64 percent and 57 percent respectively.

Incidentally, married women with no children under the age of 18 did put saving for retirement at the top of the list.

And the survey also notes that most employees don't prioritize their own finances toward saving for retirement until their 40s or 50s, when other financial needs have been met.

Retirement security, meanwhile, is becoming much more important for all respondents. In 2013, 52 percent prioritized it, but now that proportion stands at 78 percent. At 87 percent, it's the chief issue for boomers, but even GenY employees regard it with increased importance, at 71 percent.

But workers overall are less confident about retirement. While 57 percent say they're confident they have enough financial resources to live comfortably 15 years into retirement, that's a decline from 69 percent in 2015. Although retirement confidence had been steadily increasing since 2009 when 61 percent were confident, that trend has now reversed.

In addition, only 39 percent of women are now confident they'll have enough resources to last 25 years into retirement, compared with 54 percent of men.

Then there's the age at which they'll manage to retire. More than a third—37 percent—of workers say they expect to work past age 70, up markedly from 30 percent two years ago. And just 26 percent say they'll be able to retiree before age 65—also down, from 29 percent in 2015.

Those feeling the most pressure to retire later are "struggling employees"—approximately 30 percent of survey respondents—identified in the survey as those worried about their short- and long-term finances. Two thirds of struggling employees who are age 50 or older today don't expect to be able to retire before age 70.

Other downward trends in worker mindsets include the 74 percent of workers who believe their generation is likely to be much worse off in retirement than their parents' generation, the 68 percent who believe Social Security will be much less when they retire than it is now and the 66 percent who believe that government medical benefits will be worse and the 50 percent of workers who intend to retire from their main job but intend to keep working for some time before fully retiring.

"Financial pressures are driving many employees to retire later," Pat Rotello, senior consultant at Willis Towers Watson, says in the report. Rotello adds, "Employees with money worries are more likely to keep working past normal retirement age to help sustain their income. Our research shows employees who work longer are typically less healthy, more stressed and less engaged at work. Given these developments, we believe employers will want to evaluate their retirement plans and financial well-being initiatives. In fact, it wouldn't surprise us to see more employers develop and implement financial well-being programs to help their employees achieve their retirement and financial goals."