Worker recruitment and retention remain a key focus of employers in the new year. With 4 in 10 employees willing to leave their current job for one with better benefits, more than 60% of businesses have responded by changing their benefit offerings in the past year.

In a Forbes Advisor survey:

• Forty percent of employers say they believe workers leave their jobs to find employment that offers better benefits.
• More than half of American workers report being content with the benefits that their current employer offers.
• One in 10 workers would take a pay cut to have access to better benefits.
• More than 30% of 18- to 41-year-olds are most concerned with having pet insurance available as a benefit.
• Nearly 40% of 42– to 57-year-olds are most likely to want mandatory paid time off from their employer.
• Moe than 80% of employees older than 42 are looking for roles that include employer-covered health care.

The challenge for employers is to align their benefit offering with worker needs and wants.

"Employers were mostly in line with naming the top three benefits that employees want, but employers' understanding of employees' preferred benefits drops off after that," according to the survey report. "Notably, employers undervalue the need for mandatory paid time off and overvalue employee discounts. While 30% of employers believe the latter is important, it doesn't seem to be a priority for employees."