COMP NEWS – As the economic and social landscape evolves with each passing year, so do the desired benefits of talented employees. In 2024, here are some of the top benefits that employees will search for.
In the battle for talent, strong benefits could be your clincher–and certain perks might be particularly convincing in 2024.
Right now, employers are feeling the pressure to fill positions. In September, small businesses had the highest share of job openings on records dating back to 2000, per an analysis from Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter. Of those hiring or trying to hire, 90 percent reported few or no qualified applicants for open positions, according to the latest Small Business Optimism Index from the National Federation of Independent Business.
So, though labor demand overall is down from 2022, owners still need to present convincing offers to prospective employees. Strong benefits can play a crucial role here, argues Stephan Scholl, CEO of the human capital technology and services provider Alight Solutions. It’s a worthwhile investment, too, as labor can comprise as much as 70 percent of total business costs, he says: “So, if it’s your most expensive asset–and I think it is an asset–then you better treat your asset right.”
Employees routinely rank health benefits as the most important benefits they consider when assessing job opportunities. Beyond physical healthcare benefits, mental healthcare benefits are also strongly desired.
Already, employers rank health-related benefits as the most important among benefit categories in 2023, according to this year’s Employee Benefits Survey from the Society for Human Resources Management. But more than just physical health, offering mental health-related benefits has become increasingly popular with companies since the pandemic. Scholl adds that as worker mental health continued to decline this year, the benefit will only tick up in the rankings.
Employees are actively seeking out these benefits, too. This year, two-thirds of employees said they would take a pay cut for a job that would better support their mental wellness, according to a survey from the Workforce Institute at UKG. “There is not one industry, whether you’re manufacturing or service, that has been absolved from that category,” Scholl says.
Support for an aging workforce is increasingly becoming a desired job benefit as the median age in the U.S. continues to climb.
The U.S. workforce is becoming more multi-generational, as the median age in the U.S. reached a record high this year and the average retirement age continues to grow, from 57 in 1991 to 61 in 2022. Combined with declining birth rates, this means that employers need to prepare for more older workers on their team and in their talent pipeline.
“We’re seeing more and more employers put a focus on things like traditional 401(k) and other retirement plans,” says Jim Link, chief human resources officer for the Society for Human Resources Management.
For instance, employers offering Roth retirement options increased three percentage points this year to 71 percent, according to the SHRM survey. Link says this could also be driven by the Secure 2.0 Act, which passed in December 2022 and is aimed at encouraging more workers to save for retirement.
But in addition to more retirement options, employers are also offering more expanded paid leave to care for family members, per the SHRM survey–another indication of the impact of the aging population, Link says. One third of employers now offer paid leave to care for immediate family members and 18 percent do so for extended family members, as well.
“Leave time, or any type of a program that’s aimed at aiding and assisting with care of other people, is going to continue to grow in importance to employees,” Link says.
To read more about employees’ most desired job benefits in 2024, click here.
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