Not surprisingly the tight talent market has spurred wage growth. However, employers who feel cautious about the economy look for perks other than wage and salary compensation to attract and retain employees.
With influential factors including rising insurance costs, potential legislative changes, multi-generation workforce and competition for talent, now’s the time to re-examine your benefits package for the new year.
Here are the leading employee benefit trends for 2020 according to the recent study by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM).
Healthcare and Health Services Benefits
Employers realize that employees who are dealing with stress over the high cost of care are likely to be less productive at work. Come next enrollment season, consider Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) insurance plans, High Deductible Health plans (HDHP) linked with health savings accounts (HSA) and flexible spending accounts (FSA) to help your employees offset their health insurance expenses.
Health Wellness Benefits
Standing desks, on-site quiet rooms for meditation, on-site fitness centers or gym membership discounts, nutrition counseling, on-site cafeterias, and work-site lactation stations are ways to make your company’s workplace compatible with your employees’ behaviors and challenges. These relatively low-cost perks are among the ones that generate the most enthusiasm from employees.
Family-Friendly Benefits
Perks that focus on living and endorse work-life balance are increasing Flexibility matters enormously to employees. Offer your employees flexible schedules, partial remote work options, and the ability to bring children to work in an emergency are low-cost offerings that appeal to employees with a variety of needs. Transportation subsidies for use of personal vehicles or public transit can reduce the financial and scheduling strain for employees who need to rely on one another to get to work.
Financial Wellness Benefits
Many employees are concerned about their financial futures. Even families with two incomes often struggle to make ends meet. Go beyond the customary retirement investment plans and employer match. Offer your employees’ tuition assistance and student loan repayment assistance that comes with tax advantages for employers.
You can also help alleviate the effects of financial stress on your employees by offering automatic savings programs, budgeting tools and other money-management resources such as sourcing articles, podcasts, and videos that provide debt payoff strategies and interest negotiation tips.
Paid Time Off Benefits
Even though the U.S. is the only country among 41 nations that does not mandate any paid leave for new parents, providing paid leave for new parents in all circumstances is more common than ever. However, paid time off to provide caregiving to other family members still lags. While congress considers moving forward with national policy, examine the needs of your workforce and consider at least a partial paid leave policy. Providing child or elder care benefits can be a big differentiator for companies.
Diversity Benefits
Perks don’t need to be one-size-fits-all. Many variables – beyond race, gender, age, and other protected classes – contribute to diversity in your workplace. Income, experience level, and family situation play a role in the benefits that matter most to any given employee. Offer floating holidays so employees have more control over how they celebrate the holidays that are meaningful to them. Provide passes to museums and parks for those who enjoy the culture and the great outdoors. Employee discount programs also help employees save money for the products and services that are most important to them.
Would you like some help finding the right people? Contact us. We’re here to help. MassHire Cape & Islands Career Center 508-771-JOBS (5627)
