This year employees seemingly have had the upper hand against employers. The Great Resignation has forced a reckoning within the workplace and few employers have come away unscathed. In April of 2021, 4 million people quit their jobs. This was followed by 4.1 million in August and 4.3 million in September.
This reshuffling of working people has been the largest that the United States has seen on record. The pandemic seems to have made everyone collectively take a step back and assess their situations. This has led to a great exodus of employees and employers looking to fill the holes.
Adding a robust employee benefits program for your company could certainly pay off in the long run. Current employees may be enticed to stay and the right employee perks and benefits package could bring in new recruits.
Employee benefits in USA are notoriously thin, so if you’re looking to hire in 2024 and beyond, consider adding these 13 most sought-after employee benefits examples to attract top talent.
1. Flexible Working Schedules
The first thing on every list of employee benefits and perks should be flex schedules. One thing that the pandemic has taught everyone over the past 2 years is that flexible working schedules are possible.
The traditional 8 to 5 has started to fall by the wayside and employers are learning that not everyone works the same. By letting employees have flexible working schedules, employers can reap the rewards of a workforce that puts in additional effort when able to choose a schedule that fits their needs.
2. Remote Working Freedom
It would seem that another example on every top 10 employee benefits list as of late is remote working abilities. Employees in the workforce from 2005-2010 saw a rise in the popularity of remote work. Some employers had created remote work policies during this time, but the adaptation of remote work never materialized on a large scale until 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, employees are almost demanding that remote work be included before they sign an employment agreement. Of all the employee perks that will be highly sought after in 2022, remote work will still hold the number one slot in whether an employee accepts an employment offer.
3. Paid Time Off
Just a few short years ago the time-off standard within the workplace looked a lot different than it does today. Employers previously gave employees on average of 5 sick days and 10 days of vacation. COVID-19 changed the way employers dole out sick leave due to the sheer number of days involved in quarantining from the virus.
Many employers are now offering more or unlimited time off for their employees. Without tracking a limited number of days, employers have found that their employees work harder and more efficiently even when they take off more days than they would have in the past.
4. Employer Paid Healthcare
Healthcare is expensive and the costs continue to rise. Another top benefit that employees will be looking for in 2024 is fully paid employer healthcare benefits. Employee insurance is a competitive requirement for new top talent should consider picking up the tab for employee healthcare costs.
While this may look different across organizations, having fully paid employer healthcare benefits could mean reeling in top performers to add to a team. Because healthcare costs continue to rise with age, fully paid employer health care is one of the best employee benefits you can add.
Employee benefits insurance consistently ranks as the top item considered for employees benefits packages.
5. Snack Boxes
Another employee benefits package example that thinks outside the box is creating small traditions throughout the company. With many companies looking to employ remote workforces, feeling disconnected is an issue that many will face.
Snack boxes from SnackMagic can help to reduce that feeling. By sending employees monthly snack boxes, employers can make their whole team feel connected and appreciated.
Snack magic has fully customizable snack boxes that employers can curate for each member of their team. Include fun notes with these unique employee benefits boxes and your teams can share a snack box over the next zoom meeting!
6. Pet Insurance
When it comes to innovative employee perks, pet insurance most likely wouldn’t come to mind. While pet insurance may seem like an odd employee benefit, the rise of remote work has given employees opportunities to adopt new pets to serve as companions and coworkers at home. Pet insurance is a great extra perk to add in order for employers to continue to attract top talent.
7. Team Building Activities
During pre-pandemic years team building activities were mostly met with loud sighs and eye rolls from unenthused employees. With remote work rising, however, teams now crave these activities and have started to participate with renewed excitement. Feeling connected during remote work is important and crucial team-building activities can help foster these feelings.
8. Mental Health Support
Another way that the pandemic has altered the workforce is by accepting open conversations around mental health. Gone are the days where employees hid any stress or personal issues.
Instead, employees have been demanding mental health days. By taking days to focus on mental health, employees have been able to take care of themselves and then return to work refreshed and invigorated.
9. Continuing Education
In some industries continuing education is important for workforce development. This is especially true in technical, medical, or education fields. With employer-financed continuing education, employees can feel confident that their employer is meeting their needs to complete their jobs successfully.
10. Childcare Support
For employees who have children, providing childcare support could mean the difference in retaining top talent or having them leave for more supportive employers. While the pandemic threw employment into chaos, children have not come away unscathed.
Companies that provide childcare support will see an increase in applicants, longer employment times, and even better work from current employees. Childcare support will be almost, if not more important, than remote working options.
11. Parental Leave
Like childcare support, parental leave is another big perk that employees will be looking for in 2024. The United States has never had a formal parental leave plan, but that could soon be changing. Bills are going through the government to standardize parental leave as a federal benefit. However, it will be up to employers to ensure that this looks fair across different departments and employee types.
12. Retirement Savings Plan Matching
Retirement savings plan matching is an employee benefit that has been adopted by many employers throughout the last decade. As the workforce is starting to age, however, this perk will be more sought after in 2024.
Employers that are looking to add older and more experienced employees will find that this is the one perk that is looked for most often.
13. Student Loan Repayment Assistance
While thinking outside of the box with some idea can help spice up a boring employee benefits plan, student loan repayment assistance is a no-fail compensation and benefits example. Like retirement savings plan matching, student loan assistance could be a deal-breaker for younger employees who are just starting out in their careers. Working for a company that helps to repay student loans is a benefit that many young people cannot pass up.
With the cost of college rising and student loan debt accumulating further, having a repayment plan as a benefit could mean the difference in talent, and top talent.
The importance of employee benefits should never be overlooked by companies. Employee benefits like health insurance are one of the most important benefits a company could offer to retain employees. However, employee benefits like insurance should not be the only thing available.
Corporations should realize that in order to attract top talent in 2024 and beyond, more employee perks and benefits will need to be offered during recruiting efforts to realize a top-performing team
