Marketers in the benefits space understand how pivotal it is for companies to use benefits as part of their competitive strategy throughout 2022. Benefits now more than ever are vital to hiring retention and growth as we look at a market with 5 million more vacancies than we have workers.
Trending Topic: Financial Wellness
A 2021 TIA survey of Americans concluded that just 50% of respondents could adequately answer questions that tested their financial knowledge and 20% showed extremely low levels of financial literacy. This begins to highlight the gap in financial knowledge. As generations continue to struggle with the financial impact of COVID and student loan debt, immediate needs get prioritized over long term financial savings. With this as the background, there is a large focus on student loan repayment as a benefit. 85% of borrowers would leave their job for better financial benefits.
Trending Topic: Family and Caregiver Support
Family and Caregiving support is multifaceted and impacts workers both near and long term needs. Job loss in the pandemic disproportionately affected women. According to the National Womens Loss Center, more than 4 million jobs have been lost in the pandemic and ½ of those were made up by women. As the pandemic calms and hiring picked up, reentering the workforce is also a challenge as 20% of managers still admit they would decline an applicant who had a large resume gap. Supportive benefits in the caregiving space can help women get back to work more effectively.
Women in the workforce are also considering future needs when looking at staying with current employers. In terms of family building, ⅔ of workers would change jobs for fertility benefits. If individuals are already struggling with fertility, 90% would change jobs if their benefits were more promising.
Trending Topic: Equitable access to healthcare and mental health care
The conversation around diversity, equity and inclusion has shifted from awareness to action. DEI initiatives intertwin with healthcare and mental healthcare entirely. More than ⅓ of black, hispanic, latino, LGBTQ+ and younger employees have considered switching companies to gain better health benefits. Highlighting again why access to equitable healthcare matters to employers, it is not good for productivity and the bottom line of your business if your employees don't feel cared for. Benefits like ones that allow providers to speak in a patient's preferred language and HR leaders working with employee resource groups are helping companies create full benefit packages that incorporate innovative solutions.
Trending Topic: Advancement in Education
68 % of employees say that learning and development is the most important employee benefit. Employers hear this and in 2020 employers spent $82.5 B on L&D according to LinkedIn. Employees are more productive and less likely to feel disengaged when they feel their company is investing in advancement. That sense of disengagement can cost employers Billions related to low productivity and turnover. The VP of LinkedIn Learning said the appetite for learning coupled with the fact that the need of remote employees have shifted has created a spotlight on leaving and development to deliver the sorts of engaging learning experience employees want and need.
What does all of this mean for the war for talent and for marketers in this space? It's not going to get easier any time soon. As wages keep increasing despite inflation, prospective employees are going to have multiple offers on the table with competitive salaries. The decision is likely going to come down to the benefits package that best reflects and serves their needs.
