The pandemic has changed the way Americans work long-term, and that’s true of the way they regard their benefits, as well. With more American workers showing interest in voluntary benefits which can keep unexpected and potentially devastating healthcare bills at bay, benefits like hospital indemnity are getting a second look — and other voluntary benefits are picking up, as well.
Last year, a study by Voya Financial found Americans were putting real thought into benefits, including voluntary benefits. And now, employers are responding.
A new survey from Willis Towers Watson, titled the Emerging Trends in Health Care Survey, asked employers how they’re reacting to this uptick in interest. The answer is overwhelmingly in favor of further offerings in voluntary benefits. A whopping 94% of employers now consider voluntary benefits to be important to their employee value proposition and rewards strategy—that’s up from only 36% just three years ago.
Lydia Jilek, senior director of Willis Towers Watsons’ Voluntary Benefits Solutions, sums up their findings: “Employers are supplementing existing core benefits with more personalized benefits to provide additional ways to support their employees’ overall wellbeing and enhance the perceived value of their benefit offerings — including adding voluntary benefits to the core benefits administration flow.”
These voluntary benefits matter: a 2020 study found that employers could see a reduction in employee turnover of up to 8% when employees are enrolled in one of five common voluntary benefit categories. Additionally, the study found a predominately millennial workforce responded even more strongly, with a reduction in turnover of up to 24%. It’s important to note this is a pre-pandemic survey, before employees began to indicate a more concerted turn towards voluntary benefits.
With both employees and employers jumping on the voluntary benefits train, now is the time to be sure your teams are up to the challenge of offering and administering additional benefits. It’s clear voluntary benefits are essential to every business. So, who is overseeing your voluntary benefits administration? How will you work new and better benefits into your current package?
If your company needs a benefits upgrade, chances are it’s time to consider a tech upgrade, as well. That’s where Web Benefits Design can help.
Not only can benefits administration from Web Benefits Design make voluntary benefits easy to work with for both employees and employers, our relationship with many voluntary benefits providers can even help cover the costs of your platform installation.
Web Benefits Design boasts carrier partnerships with major providers. What does that mean for employers? Our partnerships create the potential for subsidies, or discounted premiums, with these carriers could provide your company valuable savings in upgrading your benefits admin platform. Carrier subsidies can cover, partially or even in full, the cost of implementing new technology which can allow your company to offer the best in benefits and accessibility to your employees.
Are you ready to explore all the ways your company can offer better benefits and administration? Click here to explore the Web Benefits Design difference, from HR admin to one-site access for employees.