Over 60% of employees in Ireland favour better benefits over increased pay

20 April 2020 – Research undertaken by Willis Towers Watson, a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company, has found that 61% or 3 in 5 employees in Ireland would prefer benefits or paid leave over increased pay or bonuses.

While the survey was conducted before the COVID-19 crisis, it is anticipated that the pandemic will focus employees interests on financial security, greater health provision, and flexible working arrangements in the future.

The Global Benefits Attitudes Study found that employees would favour enhanced benefits related to financial security, family, wellness and education - areas which would be expected given the greater economic certainties when the research was conducted.

The key findings of the research also included:

• 54% of employees generally believe that their benefits package is more important than ever before with 60% identifying their retirement plan as the priority. This figure might be expected to increase in the future as employees look for greater benefits, particularly in relation to health and wellness, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• While more generous pension benefits are favoured by older workers, the desire for retirement security is high across all age categories. For example, 65% of respondents in their 20s would be willing to pay a higher amount from their monthly pay for a more generous retirement benefit compared to 51% of those surveyed in 2015. 68% of those in their 40s are now willing to pay for retirement benefits, up from 45% in 2015.
• Interest in health insurance benefits has increased across all age groups, with 49% of those aged 50+ now willing to pay a higher amount compared to 29% in 2015. It would be expected that these figures will increase due to the COVID-19 outbreak in spite of the recent Government measures in relation to private healthcare.
• 49% of employees in Ireland think that their benefits package meets their needs, however only 39% of those earning less than €35,000 feel their benefits needs are being met. This compares with 61% of those earning more than €65,000 who are satisfied with their benefits.
• Health insurance plans were the most widely cited benefit as meeting employee needs (71%). Health insurers have reported a significant leap in employees accessing their digital wellness and health resources during these challenging times. 61% cited their flexible working arrangements as meeting their needs.
• The vast majority of those surveyed (79%) who are satisfied with their benefits package are likely to remain with their current employer for the next two years.

As part of the survey, Willis Towers Watson asked employees what employers can do to meet their needs. The key findings included:

• The majority of employees want more generous retirement benefits and are willing to sacrifice pay to do so. For example, 39% favoured retirement benefits versus 34% favouring more baseline pay. Depending on the severity of any economic downturn due to COVID-19, a higher percentage of respondents would now be more focused on immediate pay.
• Aside from the traditional benefits, employees stated a desire for assistance in other areas such as financial planning (53%), parents/carers leave (52%), wellness (45%), further education (44%) and commuting (42%) among the most popular.
• The research found that male and female employees generally favour the same preferences and perks however 51% of females favour wellness support ,compared to just 40% of males.
• Wellness support would be the most preferred perk among older employees (63%) while the majority of Gen X favour financial perks (59%) and 50% of Gen Y are focused on family-based supports. Again, COVID-19 might be expected to impact generational preferences with younger employees becoming more health benefit aware for future support.
• The majority of employees earning over €65,000 would favour benefits that encourage financial well-being (56%) and family support (57%), while those earning less then €35,000 identified family support (55%) and wellness (50%) as their priorities.

David Glennon, a Director in the Health & Benefits practice at Willis Towers Watson, said
“The defining insight of this survey is that employees are placing increasing value on the benefits that their employers are providing and are willing to sacrifice more pay for these benefits. While the survey was completed before the COVID-19 pandemic, recent events mean it is likely that employees are going to continue to look for more benefits that look after their physical, emotional and financial needs.”

“Another interesting element is that employees cited flexible working conditions such as working from home as a benefit. In the current environment we are seeing working from home as a necessity rather than a benefit. When normality returns, it will be interesting to see if the experience will result in working from home becoming more common place.”

“While it is not possible at this stage to forecast, future research in the area of benefits could potentially yield significant shifts in expectations across all generations as a legacy of the COVID-19 crisis.”

The research also highlights steps that employers can take to help employees when it comes to benefits options including:

• Design benefits programs that connect with employees’ priorities and needs.
• Provide employees with the flexibility to choose the benefits that best meet their personal circumstances.
• Support employees to make benefit choices, via communication, tools and wider decision support.
• Enhance work policies (e.g. work flexibility) and on-site and near-site services.

About the Global Benefits Attitudes Survey

The Willis Towers Watson 2019/2020 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey measured attitudes of over 40,000 employees at medium and large private sector employees in 27 countries. A total of 752 Irish workers participated in the survey, which was conducted between July and September 2019.