Highlights
The 10th anniversary edition of MetLife's annual Study of Employee Benefits Trends marks a decade of exploring an evolving benefits landscape from the point of view of employers and employees across all U.S. regions, industries and company sizes. Through both robust years and turbulent economic times, the Study has identified significant key findings and insights that have served to inform and shape today’s benefits strategies for employers and their advisors.
A key finding this year is that 60% of surveyed employers recognize the precarious economic climate, rather than reducing business focus on employee benefits, actually creates opportunity for benefits to drive human capital. In addition, the Study found employees are less committed to their employers, but at the same time, highly dependent on their workplace benefits.
Over the last decade, the Study has found that employers' top benefits objectives –to control costs, attract and retain employees and increase productivity - have remained fairly consistent over time, with slight shifts in priority often indicative of a good or poor economy. However, because the face of the workforce has changed over ten years, the strategies that employers use to achieve those same objectives must also change.
- Ten years ago the millennial generation, Gen Y, was hardly on the front burner for workforce management. Today, this generation is redefining what benefits will mean in the coming decade. The Study illustrates how generational concerns and expectations change over time. In 2003, only 33% of employees age 21-30 were very worried about running out of money in retirement. Today, their outlook shaped by the recession, 52% of this age group are focused on their long-term financial security.
- Ten years ago many Baby Boomers were looking at the prospect of retiring before age 65. The looming concern was about the pending "Boomer exodus" and the resulting knowledge loss in the American workforce. Today, Boomers are wearily eyeing working beyond the age of 65.
- Ten years ago retirement security was about savings growth. Today the conversation has shifted to that of creating and protecting an adequate income stream.
- Ten years have seen health care costs explode, and in tandem, the Study has explored ongoing efforts by companies to control the impact.
- Ten years ago, the term "financial wellness" was relatively unknown. Now, employers increasingly recognize that the financial health of their employees has an impact on productivity.
- One of the Study’s most significant findings is the strong relationship between satisfaction with benefits and job satisfaction. First noted in 2004 and every year since, this correlation creates compelling evidence for the power of benefits to drive a universal set of business objectives – employee attraction, retention and productivity.
- Ten years ago employees expected benefits, but were far less engaged in their true value. Today, new economic realities are driving employees to more fully appreciate the coverages that their employers provide – even if they have to pay more of the costs themselves.
Despite a difficult and shifting business climate, employers are not retreating from their workplace benefits commitments - employers remain committed to their benefits offerings, and for many employers benefits are increasingly about business opportunity.
Employers who see opportunity in the current economy for benefits to drive business goals are identified in the Study as "Progressives" for their optimistic perspective on benefits and ability to see opportunity in difficult economic conditions. Employers who do not see this opportunity are identified as "Standards". The attitudes and actions of these two groups are examined throughout the Study and provide contrasting perspectives on how employers, this year, are viewing strategies and opportunities in benefits.
The role of workplace benefits in driving employer business objectives for employee attraction, retention and productivity has been a hallmark finding of this MetLife Study over the years and continues through today’s difficult economy. Once again, the Study demonstrates that satisfaction with benefits is clearly connected to employee job satisfaction, and also confirms that employees who are dissatisfied with their benefits are more likely to want to work elsewhere.
Seventy-five percent (75%) of employers recognize that potential holes in Social Security and Medicare safety nets will cause employees to look to their workplace for help. And 54% agree that it creates a responsibility to maintain, if not expand, retirement benefits in this event.
The Study clearly indicates that help is unlikely to take the form of increased benefits expenditure. However, opportunities for enhancing employee financial wellness are apparent in new findings about the effectiveness of financial education, as well as the payback for employers in terms of employee retention and improved productivity.
The Study reveals a number of generational insights that go beyond some of the traditional assumptions around life stage. In fact, what emerges is a fascinating picture of how younger generations (Gen X and Gen Y) are now looking to the benefits they get at work much more than previous generations traditionally did at their age. This year's Study reveals how economic conditions are driving fundamental differences in younger workers, attitudes toward employee benefits, financial decision-making, career planning, job satisfaction and loyalty to employers.
| Age | Generation |
|---|---|
| 21 - 31 (born 1981–1994) | Generation Y View |
| 32 - 47 (born 1965–1980) | Generation X View |
| 48 - 56 (born 1956–1964) | Younger Boomers View |
| 57 - 66 (born 1946–1955) | Older Boomers View |
Meet the generations and see how they feel about benefits.
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Tools
The tools and resources below make it easy to access valuable information from the 10th 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.
10th Annual Study of Employee Benefit Trends
Presentation Slides
Leverage insights from this year's Study of Employee Benefits Trends in your next presentation to management or colleagues with these easy-to-use 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.
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 2011.
Learn moreMethodology
The 10th Annual MetLife Study of Employee Benefits Trends was conducted in September and October of 2011 and consisted of two distinct studies fielded by GfK Custom Research North America. The employer survey comprised 1,519 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 | 11% |
| 10–49 | 20% |
| 50-199 | 18% |
| 200-499 | 4% |
| 500-999 | 4% |
| 1,000-4,999 | 14% |
| 5,000-9,999 | 8% |
| 10,000+ | 12% |
| Geography | % |
|---|---|
| South | 31% |
| West | 27% |
| Midwest | 21% |
| Northeast | 20% |
| Industry | % |
|---|---|
| Services | 35% |
| Heavy Industry | 23% |
| Sales/Trade | 12% |
| Finance, Insurance, Real Estate | 13% |
| Healthcare & Social Assistance | 6% |
| Educational Services | 2% |
| Public Administration | 3% |
| Accomodation and Food Services | 3% |
| Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation | 3% |
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 | 55% |
| Female | 45% |
| Marital Status | % |
|---|---|
| Married | 62% |
| Single | 18% |
| Divorced/Separated | 12% |
| Domestic partnership | 7% |
| Widowed | 1% |
| Ethnic Background | % |
|---|---|
| Caucasian | 69% |
| Hispanic | 12% |
| African-American | 10% |
| Asian | 8% |
| Family Status | % |
|---|---|
| Do not have children under 18 | 55% |
| Have children under 18 | 45% |
| Geography | % |
|---|---|
| South | 37% |
| Midwest | 22% |
| West | 22% |
| Northeast | 19% |
| Age | % |
|---|---|
| 21–30 | 16% |
| 31–40 | 27% |
| 41–50 | 25% |
| 51–60 | 23% |
| 61 and over | 8% |
| Employer size (staff size) | % |
|---|---|
| 2–9 | |
| 10–49 | 12% |
| 50–199 | 15% |
| 200–499 | 9% |
| 500–999 | 7% |
| 1,000–4,999 | 16% |
| 5,000–9,999 | 7% |
| 10,000+ | 23% |
| Household income | % |
|---|---|
| Under $30,000 | 9% |
| $30,000 to $49,999 | 18% |
| $50,000 to $74,999 | 23% |
| $75,000 to $99,999 | 18% |
| $100,000 to $149,999 | 22% |
| $150,000 and over | 10% |
| Industry | % |
|---|---|
| Services | 36% |
| Heavy Industry | 20% |
| Sales/Trade | 11% |
| Finance, Insurance, Real Estate | 9% |
| Educational Services | 7% |
| Healthcare and Social Assistance | 12% |
| Arts, Entertainment and Recreation | 2% |
| Accommodation and Food Services | 2% |
| Public Administration | 1% |
Totals do not always equal 100% due to rounding.
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