In years past, many people believed that blue-collar workers in lower- to middle-income jobs were the primary buyers of voluntary products. Today, brokers who are active in the voluntary space know that's no longer true. Yes, blue-collar workers still buy voluntary products, but so do white-collar workers. In fact, the ownership percentages across occupational categories are very similar today and the lowest ownership percentages are in the unskilled labor category — a blue-collar market.
The following table provides the percentage of employees owing at least one voluntary product by occupational category. The chart shows the percent that own and don't own voluntary within each occupational category. In other words, each row adds up to 100 percent. So, among administrative or clerical workers, half own at least one voluntary product, but among laborers just 38 percent own at least one.
After surveying more than 770 employees in businesses with 10 or more employees, we found that voluntary has very broad appeal today. Ownership percentages across ages are very similar except in the youngest age group (see sidebar, right). The percentages also are similar across household income categories.
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Still, there are some industries that do seem to have a bias toward voluntary although every industry we tracked had at least one-quarter of the employees owning a voluntary product. Four industries in particular had a higher than average likelihood of employees owning a voluntary product: government, education, real estate and manufacturing. In each of these industries more than half of employees owned at least one voluntary product.
In many of the benefit broker surveys we've conducted, one of the top reasons that brokers say they don't sell more voluntary is that they don't think the employees in their accounts would be interested. If you still believe that, or if you think that voluntary is only for blue-collar workers, it's time to wake up to the new world. The message today seems clear: Voluntary is for everyone, whether they're buying it from you or from your competitors.
| Occupation | Own voluntary | Household income | Own voluntary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative/Clerical | 50% | Under $25,000 | 32% |
| Sales/Marketing | 46% | $25,000-$49,999 | 46% |
| Manufacturing/Machine Operator | 47% | $50,000-$74,999 | 49% |
| Laborer | 38% | $75,000-$99,999 | 48% |
| Skilled Craftsperson | 55% | $100,000 or more | 36% |
| Management/Professional | 43% |
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