New year, new COVID strain, new employee: 2022 was the year of the employee — and a time for benefits advisors and employers to rethink long-held assumptions about the employer-employee relationship. The era of one-size-fits-all compensation and benefits packages is over. Fueled by the pandemic and new work-from-home policies over the last few years, employees now realize they can demand greater flexibility, and they want employers that will offer it to them.

Year two of the Great Resignation was met with another emerging trend, "quiet quitting," as a record number of employees lowered their productivity levels at work, and employers that recognize these new trends, and plan accordingly, will have a decisive advantage over their competitors.

Heading into 2023, benefits packages need to address individual needs and concerns while being flexible enough to adapt to the different ways employees use their benefits. It's never been more important to create and offer benefits that serve all employees.