The ongoing labor shortage is driving up the competition for employees, but many businesses that are struggling to recover in the post-pandemic world, are hard-pressed to hand over huge starting salaries. Instead, businesses are looking strategically at their benefits offerings and seeing what they can add to and improve to make themselves stand out in a sea of competitors. Read on below to learn which benefits are most desirable and should thus be amped up to land you that new star talent.
According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of job openings for September was 10.4 million. While hires and total separations (including quits, layoffs, and discharges) were relatively stable at 6.5 million and 6.2 million, respectively. In the past 12 months, 73.3 million Americans were hired in new positions and 67.7 million discharges were reported, amounting to a net employment gain of 5.6 million. In summary, while folks are filling jobs, there remains a high rate of turnover and companies are thus continuing to struggle to fill job openings.
In an interview with Business Wire, Amy Friedrich, president of US Insurance Solutions at Principal Financial, noted that “as businesses start to ramp up operations, employers are dealing with the complex American labor shortage and a workforce empowered to determine where they want to work and what they want from an employer, making benefit offerings more critical.” In fact, a survey by Friedrich’s firm found that 90 percent of businesses plan to increase at least one benefit in 2022.
Top of the list for improved investment is telehealth, with more companies opting to add more benefits that allow employees to take care of their health from the comfort of their homes. Other areas of interest include paid family or medical leave to help retain employees by demonstrating a priority towards work-life balance. The pandemic and the job insecurity that followed, has also uncovered a renewed interest among employees for financial wellness programming. While 70 percent of employers view this type of benefit as important, only 62 percent currently offer it, a figure that is expected to climb in the years ahead.
Another significant area earmarked for increased investment lies in improving digital access to benefits for employees, which is planned for 65 percent of businesses surveyed. In implementing this change, 71 percent of respondents felt that it would help employees understand their benefits better, 62 percent believed it would streamline online onboarding — which has grown particularly important in a post-pandemic online world — and 40 percent were motivated to do this to reduce paper.
