Benefits Not On The Chopping Block

Employee Benefits News
By Lydell C. Bridgeford
March 24, 2009

“The recession that we are experiencing in this country is really a wake-up call for both employers and employees,” Bill Mullaney, president of MetLife Institutional Business said yesterday at MetLife’ 5th National Benefits Symposium.

The forum served, in part, as a venue for the company to roll out findings from its 7th Annual Employee Benefits Trends Study, which interviewed more than 1,500 benefits decision-makers last August and November. "The study allows us to keep our hands on the pulse of employee benefits trends", said William Raczko, vice president of MetLife Institutional Business. “These days, that pulse is beating pretty rapidly due to the pace of change in the economy,” he added.

Still, employers remain steadfast on preserving workplace benefits, according to the survey. Fewer than 15% of employers expect to scale back on their benefits programs.

About 40% of small employers (those with fewer than 500 workers) and 50% of large companies (those with 2,500 or more employees) realize that there is a strong connection between workplace morale and the quality of employee benefits.

The survey also reveals that benefits are influencing employee loyalty far more than employers realize. For example, 72% of workers indicated that retirement benefits were a key factor in influencing employee loyalty, but only 40% of employers said the same.

Building employee loyalty also may mean companies have to become better equipped in leveraging benefits related to life, dental, disability and vision insurance. About 70% of employees reported non-health benefits play a strong role in workplace loyalty, a jump from 51% in 2007, while only 41% of employers thought the same.

Mullaney of MetLife believes that the economy has forced more employees to focus on financial security. Consequently, employers that recognize the significance of workplace benefits in financial security can more effectively design benefits plans that have a greater return on investment for all stakeholders, he asserted.