Asia Pacific highlights from the 2025 Benefits Trends Survey
With rising costs, economic instability, and employees asking for more support and personalization, employers are transforming how they think about benefits. They are aiming to be smarter with their spending, sharper with their focus and use benefits as a strategic tool to drive engagement, retention and purpose.
Findings from the 2025 Benefits Trends Survey offer a clear direction:
01
Globally, cost has jumped to the top of issues facing employers, climbing from second place in 2023. However in Asia Pacific, employers are still most concerned about competition for talent (Figure 1).
Having an enhanced employee experience is also climbing to the top of the list of issues facing employers – particularly in certain markets such as Australia, India, Indonesia and Malaysia.
02
Employers in Asia Pacific are reconciling their ambitions to do more with their benefits in the face of rising costs and budgetary pressures by reallocating or rebalancing their benefits spend (Figure 2).
This recalibration — adding or enhancing some benefits by reducing or removing others —can be challenging. Employers need to consider carefully which benefits employees want and need, and which benefits deliver the most value to the organisation. Effective communication strategies will be crucial to managing employee reactions to these changes.
03
The growing number of people reporting mental health issues is a key concern globally—and Asia Pacific is no exception. More than half of employers see mental health as the top area they wish to enhance or improve over the next three years (Figure 3).
In Asia Pacific, a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, which has declined in most markets, remains a key area of interest.
To focus on what matters most, employers should assess their benefits for impact. Expanding programs that directly alleviate employee pressure points, while trimming back low-value benefits. Listening strategies and analytics are key to both prioritization and messaging.
