What are the benefits offered by employers to employees?

What Types Of Employee Benefits Are Most Appreciated Among The Different Generations?

Different generations of workers (often) want different things. We've already seen this in our article about generational differences in the workplace.

As each generation is in a different stage of their lives, it's no surprise that they tend to appreciate different types of employee benefits. After all, young Millennial parents have other priorities than a close-to-retirement Baby Boomer, right?

According to the Benify Study, employee benefits are divided into two groups: those employees value most and those they find least important. Let's take a look at the overall view for each generation.

When we consider what benefits are most important to people, there are two things that immediately jump out at us. First, and most importantly, is that as people age, pension plans become more important. It makes perfect sense since graduates just entering the workforce won't think about retirement for 40+ years.

The second thing worth noticing here is skills development. It is obvious that the younger generation is far more interested in developing new skills than Baby Boomers.

Something that's important for all employees, regardless of their age, and that tops almost every list, are working hours and leave.

The top five benefits most valued by employees are slightly different when we compare them to the other generations. Food & drink and mobility suddenly appear on different lists. Health & Wellness is the number one choice for almost every generation.

It's interesting to see that financial wellness is something that the youngest generation in the workforce, Generation Z, has in its top five. Financial wellness is likely to become an increasingly important benefit for employees as companies hire more people from Generation Z.

What are the benefits offered by employers to employees?

Many HR professionals spend a lot time on benefit packages. They are a key component of employee retention and engagement.

The numbers speak for themselves about the importance of employee benefits. The Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), which conducted extensive research, found that 92% of employees regard employment benefits as essential for job satisfaction. This is a significant element of productivity and retention. Nearly a third of workers also mentioned work benefits as a top reason for leaving their jobs and choosing to remain at the same job.

Employers are looking for the most important factors in job advertisements. 63% of those surveyed said they pay close attention to company benefits. This means that offering benefits, and mentioning them in your job ads and careers page, is a great part of your employer branding efforts.

You can also offer high-performing employees benefits, without having to invest in high salaries. All employees should get paid enough to pay the bills and live comfortably, but they might accept less pay if they have strong health insurance, flexible hours and other benefits important to them. The practice of employees giving up a part of their salary for benefits is called salary packaging, and may also result in tax deductions or other gains for either party.