While 23 percent of full-time employees have no benefits—no health insurance, retirement savings or paid vacation—a new survey finds that it's to the employer's advantage, even for small businesses, to offer benefits in the quest to attract top talent and keep their good employees from jumping ship.
B2B research firm Clutch reports that while paid vacation time (65 percent) and health insurance (62 percent) are the most commonly offered benefits, 55 percent of employees say that health insurance is the most important to them in terms of their job satisfaction. And while 52 percent of employees who aren't satisfied with their benefits want more of a benefit they already have, 14 percent want different benefits altogether.
Millennials, of course, have to be different; they're more likely than other generations to prioritize paid vacation and overtime, and less likely to prioritize health insurance. Only 44 percent of millennials say health insurance as the most important benefit they receive, but 62 percent of GenXers and Boomers say it's the most crucial.
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The report cites research from the University of Warwick that shows that happy employees perform their jobs 12 percent better, while stressed, dissatisfied workers perform 10 percent worse. And there's not much that can stress a worker faster than unexpected hospital bills. Research from the National Institutes of Health finds that an average visit to the emergency room costs over $1,200.
"Employees are concerned because both medical treatment and health insurance are so expensive," Chris Wolpert, managing member of Group Benefit Solutions, a group of health insurance and benefits consultants in Seattle, is quoted saying. And according to Lisa Oyler, human resources director at private discount network Access Development, health coverage is a key part of the investment companies make in their employees.
In addition, the report quotes Mary Pharris, director of business development and partnerships for Fairygodboss, saying, "It's important to have a comprehensive benefits package if you want to compete in the global workforce and attract the best talent."
According to Pharris, key benefits include healthcare, paid time off, paid maternity/paternity leave and retirement planning. And while just 21percent of full-time workers get paid parental leave, and only 8 percent receive some kind of childcare stipend, a Fractl study finds that 23 percent of women would take day-care services into heavy consideration when choosing a job, and 24 percent feel the same about paid maternity leave. Only 11 percent of men would take day-care services into heavy consideration, and 14 percent would give paid paternity leave the same weight.
"The benefits that are important to men are not always necessarily important to women, and vice versa," Pharris adds.
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