Highlights
The 9th Annual Study of Employee Benefit Trends delivers a clear message to employers: Bolster employee loyalty and satisfaction or economic recovery may arrive with unanticipated setbacks for retention and productivity.
This year’s findings reveal a workforce that has grown more dissatisfied and disloyal, to the point where one in three employees hopes to be working elsewhere in the next twelve months. Yet employers do not appear to be tuned in to this potential flight risk. Focused on the challenging business environment, employers remain confident of strong levels of employee job satisfaction and loyalty. A loyal and satisfied workforce is part of the foundation of business growth. Widening cracks in this foundation may force employers to pay a price in reduced retention and productivity when the job market improves.
While managing benefits costs is by far employer’s most important benefits objective again this year, benefits remain an important mechanism to support business goals of employee attraction, retention and productivity, and to forge an employer-employee bond by helping to financially protect employees and their families. The impact of the recession has made employee benefits more important than ever. And, as the Study shows year after year, employees who are satisfied with benefits are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs.
The Study highlights how a diverse employee experience can translate into disparate benefits attitudes and needs, and why employers might do well to consider a generational strategy for benefits utilizing flexibility, customization, and choice. Voluntary benefits and social media have a key role. Employers may be surprised at the reported readiness of their workers to pay for more personally relevant benefits; which indicates that voluntary benefits now have a key role to play in enabling individual choice, customization and flexibility within budget constraints.
Wellness programs are now widely accepted as a way to help control company health care costs and improve productivity by reducing absenteeism. Taking this a step further, this year’s Study shows that both employers and employees recognize there is also a connection between financial wellness and physical and mental health. Programs that “treat” financial ”illness” appear to hold promise for improving productivity as well as reducing the incidence of stress-related diseases. From security blanket to safety net, having a reliable income during working years and during retirement is something most Americans count on. Yet most do little to preserve or protect that income.
To more fully understand health care reform’s broad long term implications for benefits, MetLife interviewed employers across the country to investigate how they expect their benefits roles and activities to change five years from now. A surprising finding is that most employers expect non-medical benefits and retirement offerings to become more important components of the benefits strategy in the wake of health care reform. This bodes well for employees given Study findings about their desire for income protection and retirement security.
Tools
The tools and resources below make it easy to access valuable information from the 9th Annual MetLife Study of Employee Benefits Trends. It’s another way MetLife is working to put our industry-leading research at your fingertips to help you make the right benefits decisions for your company and to anticipate the needs and potential challenges that lie ahead.
9th Annual Study of Employee Benefits Trends
For a complete summary of findings from the study, download a copy here.
Presentation Slides
Leverage insights from this year’s Study of Employee Benefits Trends in your next presentation to colleagues or partners by using these downloadable PowerPoint slides.
Benefits Benchmarking Tool
Quickly compare benefits objectives and offerings — as well as employee attitudes — to those of similar companies and employee populations. View, print and download your results for your next presentation.
Perspectives
Perspectives
Primary & Secondary Schools - Employee Benefits Trends Industry Spotlight
Take a closer look at the results from MetLife’s Study of Employee Benefits Trends specific to Primary and Secondary Schools. Learn how the industry compares and contrasts with the broader universe of employers and employees.
Address Growing Flight Risk With Benefits-Based Strategies
Take a deeper dive into the results from MetLife’s Study of Employee Benefits Trends specific to small business. This paper has been developed to help small business employers and brokers address the decline in worker loyalty with benefits-based strategies.
Remodeling the Benefits and Retirement Income Space
Take a closer look at retirement and income protection benefits in the post recession economy.
Benefits Benchmarking Tool
Quickly compare benefits objectives and offerings — as well as employee attitudes — to those of similar companies and employee populations. View, print and download your results for your next presentation.
Use the Benchmarking ToolStudy Methodology
The MetLife Study of Employee Benefits Trends is based on two separate sets of research interviews conducted during the fourth quarter of 2010.
Learn moreMethodology
The 9th annual MetLife Study of Employee Benefits Trends was conducted during the fourth quarter of 2010 and consisted of two distinct studies fielded by GfK Custom Research North America. The employer survey comprised 1,508 interviews with benefits decision-makers at companies with staff sizes of at least two employees. The employee sample comprised 1,412 interviews with full-time employees age 21 and over, at companies with a minimum of two employees.
Employers Span a broad range of industries, sizes and geographic locations.
| Employer size (staff size) | % |
|---|---|
| 2–9 | 20% |
| 10–49 | 20% |
| 50–199 | 19% |
| 200–499 | 4% |
| 500–999 | 4% |
| 1,000–4,999 | 14% |
| 5,000–9,999 | 10% |
| 10,000+ | 10% |
| Geography | % |
|---|---|
| South | 29% |
| West | 23% |
| Midwest | 23% |
| Northeast | 24% |
| Industry | % |
|---|---|
| Services | 34% |
| Heavy Industry | 23% |
| Sales/Trade | 12% |
| Finance, Insurance, Real Estate | 11% |
| Healthcare & Social Assistance | 7% |
| Educational Services | 3% |
| Public Administration | 3% |
| Accomodation and Food Services | 3% |
| Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation | 4% |
Totals do not always equal 100% due to rounding.
The employees polled represent an equally broad cross-section of respondents. Employee data are weighted to reflect the total U.S. working population, excluding those who are self employed.
| Gender | % |
|---|---|
| Male | 56% |
| Female | 44% |
| Ethnic Background | % |
|---|---|
| Caucasian | 69% |
| Hispanic | 13% |
| African-American | 11% |
| Asian | 7% |
| Geography | % |
|---|---|
| South | 37% |
| Midwest | 22% |
| West | 22% |
| Northeast | 19% |
| Age | % |
|---|---|
| 21–30 | 15% |
| 31–40 | 29% |
| 41–50 | 22% |
| 51–60 | 26% |
| 61 and over | 8% |
| Marital Status | % |
|---|---|
| Married | 66% |
| Single | 16% |
| Divorced/Separated | 10% |
| Domestic partnership | 6% |
| Widowed | 2% |
| Family Status | % |
|---|---|
| Do not have children under 18 | 54% |
| Have children under 18 | 46% |
| Employer size (staff size) | % |
|---|---|
| 2–9 | 7% |
| 10–49 | 13% |
| 50–199 | 15% |
| 200–499 | 8% |
| 500–999 | 6% |
| 1,000–4,999 | 15% |
| 5,000–9,999 | 7% |
| 10,000+ | 25% |
| Household income | % |
|---|---|
| Under $30,000 | 8% |
| $30,000 to $49,999 | 17% |
| $50,000 to $74,999 | 22% |
| $75,000 to $99,999 | 18% |
| $100,000 to $149,999 | 20% |
| $150,000 and over | 14% |
| Industry | % |
|---|---|
| Services | 36% |
| Heavy Industry | 21% |
| Sales/Trade | 11% |
| Finance, Insurance, Real Estate | 9% |
| Educational Services | 6% |
| Healthcare and Social Assistance | 10% |
| Arts, Entertainment and Recreation | 2% |
| Accommodation and Food Services | 2% |
| Public Administration | 3% |
Totals do not always equal 100% due to rounding.
Feedback
