The Future of Employee Benefits and Work Trends in 2024
By Marta Gongos Employee benefits packages have changed dramatically over the years. It used to be the norm for employees to expect only a minimum wage. Now, workers are entitled to pension plans, paid vacation days, healthcare coverage, dental insurance, mental health benefits, and more.
A study from 2022 has shown that employees prioritize their overall welfare when evaluating their job satisfaction. This means employers must adapt to ever-changing employee benefit trends to retain talented employees and attract high-quality new hires.
In this article, we’ll walk you through the shifting trends in workplace benefits programs, exploring why making small but necessary changes in your organization will help you retain employees and set your workplace apart. Let’s dive right in.
The Rise of Remote Work
In the post-pandemic landscape, remote and hybrid work are here to stay. The future of work trends show Millennial and Gen Z workers are looking for flexible work arrangements, where they can structure their schedules to maintain work life balance. If your company operates fully onsite, implementing hybrid scheduling may ease employee stress by reducing commuting time, overtime hours, and potential for burnout.
Primarily remote and primarily in-office are two popular hybrid work models used by top companies today. Grammarly takes the former approach by letting employees work from home and structure their offices as collaborative hubs for meetings. Meanwhile, Amazon has a primarily in-office approach that requires employees to be in the office three times a week.
Pro-tip: Before adopting a hybrid work model, run a workspace survey to learn which set up works best for your employees.
Image Source: Canva
New Benefits to Support Remote Employees
Remote and hybrid work requires new employee benefits. Employers may provide stipends and internet allowances to cover the cost of setting up a home office and internet bills.
Flexible Benefits as Norm
Employee benefit trends are beginning to shift toward more personalization and flexibility. Flexible benefits are perks employees can customize and select according to their lifestyle. While traditional fixed benefits are tailored to a role, flexible benefits can be personalized to an employee’s individual needs.
For example, one employee might opt for flexible working hours, financial wellness programs, and a transportation stipend. Others may choose perks, like childcare support, paid parental leave, or gym memberships.
→ Read more: Learn How to Make People Want to Work for You Here
Advantages for Employers and Employees
Offering flexible employee benefits attracts and retains top talent. Employees feel more satisfied with their work when they have control over their benefits. In turn, they’re more motivated to produce quality work, which increases employee productivity.
Mental Health Support
Providing access to mental health services is a crucial step in the future of employee benefits. According to research, at least 500,000 Canadians a week suffer from mental health problems that prevent them from working. Workplace stresses, such as role ambiguity, interpersonal relationships, distributive injustices, and more, contribute directly to mental health challenges.
Innovative Mental Health Benefits
Major companies are leading the way in providing adequate support to help employees access costly mental health services. In fact, in 2018, EY raised its employee mental health allowance to $5,000 provided annually.
More and more employers recognize the importance of helping employees manage their mental health. Offering benefits packages that include employee assistance programs, paid mental wellness leaves, mentored professional development, and stress management seminars is a holistic approach that nurtures employee wellbeing.
→ Learn more: Here’s How You Can Cultivate a Supportive Workplace Culture
Technology-Driven Benefits
Integrating technology can also significantly enhance your employee benefits packages. For instance, when perks are spread across multiple platforms, employees may struggle to engage. Centralizing benefits in one digital hub streamlines access, making it easier for employees to take advantage of their perks.
Another clear example is providing employees access to telemedicine services via mobile devices. These services are convenient, cost effective, and particularly useful for employees living in rural areas.
Image source: Canva
The Role of AI in Personalizing Employee Benefits
Digitizing benefits enrollment leads to faster and easier processing, but often lacks personalization. This is an issue that AI can address.
Based on the PeopleKeep’s survey in 2022, 65% of employees would prefer to choose their own benefits, but only 36% have a say in what they want. By analyzing individual needs and applying scalable automation, AI can ensure that employees receive the benefits most relevant to them.
Attract and Retain Talent with Trending New Employee Benefits
The future of employee benefits is shifting towards a tailored approach, with employees considering their overall wellbeing in job satisfaction. To maintain engagement in the workplace, employers should proactively adapt to these employee benefit trends.
Let Ad Culture help you hire top-tier talents to match your attractive new employee benefits. As Toronto’s number one digital marketing and advertising recruitment agency, we can make your talent search faster and more affordable without sacrificing hiring quality. Who knows, your unicorn might already be in our pool of top talent, all ready to work.
Grow your team with us. Contact us today!
