Employee Benefit Trends
Monday, August 02, 2010
In the still fragile economy, employers are looking for ways to capitalize on their benefits programs, and improve employee productivity, health and wellness – all while controlling costs. Programs that help address these issues can be very strategic tools for employers. But better understanding these specific needs starts with addressing the current state of the benefits landscape.
MetLife’s 8th annual Study of Employee Benefits Trends reveals that the employee benefits landscape appears similar to pre-recession conditions in some ways, but that the impact of the economic downturn is still taking its toll on both employers and employees. Specific findings from this year’s survey results explain more.
- Employers Indicate:
- Controlling benefits costs is the top concern facing employers for the first time since the 2006 study.
- Employee retention falls to the second most important objective for employers.
- Employee productivity ranked as the third most important benefits objective, with 84 percent of respondents expressing an interest in this objective, up from 79 percent in 2008.
- Employers indicated that programs that promote employee health, wellness and financial security are effective in improving employee productivity – even in an economic downturn and environment of uncertainty in the workplace.
- Employer engagement in employee retirement plans is starting to increase again for the first time since the recession began. There is also an emerging interest in automatically enrolling employees in retirement plans at larger organizations in attempt to help employees act on their intentions to save for retirement even in tough financial times.
- Employers have not significantly increased their focus on offering financial guidance and retirement education services, despite an increasing employee interest in those services.
- Employers indicate that voluntary benefits can be a cost-effective way to enhance a benefits program.
- Employees Indicate:
- Almost 60 percent of employee respondents plan to delay their retirement and work past the age of 65.
- Approximately 68 percent of employees experienced a heightened sense of job insecurity in 2009, resulting in a decrease in the quality of their work and increased distractions at work due to personal financial concerns.
- Employees view wellness programs as very valuable and connect successful participation with increased personal health and productivity.
- Over half of employees indicated that the economic events in the past year have made them realize that they need to more actively save for retirement.
- Of the employees who were satisfied with their benefits, 81 percent were also satisfied with their jobs. Of those who were not satisfied with their benefits, only 23 percent indicated that they were satisfied with their jobs.
For full survey results: www.metlife.com/assets/institutional/services/insights-and-tools/ebts/Employee-Benefits-Trends-Study.pdf
