More than three quarters (76 percent) of financial services workers believe their reward and benefits packages offer good value for money, which is the highest of any sector surveyed as part of research from benefits technology firm Zest.
Business services and IT follow closely, each with 75 percent of employees expressing satisfaction with their benefits.
Elsewhere, the picture is less encouraging. In education, only 42 percent of employees see value in their benefits, despite 39 percent of HR leaders in the sector reporting that they have increased investment in rewards over the past year. Almost six in ten (57 percent) workers in education say their reward and benefits are inadequate, and most worryingly, 37 percent of workers in this sector are considering leaving their jobs because of it. Healthcare fared slightly better, with 48 percent of employees satisfied.
Researchers found that across industries, disengagement with benefits is widespread. A majority of workers (58 percent) admit they don’t use most of the perks available to them, and nearly half (47 percent) find their benefits irrelevant. Just 45 percent feel their employer listens to their needs when designing these offerings. Meanwhile, firms face mounting pressure as 19 percent report struggling to keep pace with rivals offering higher salaries, and 58 percent of employees say they would jump ship for better benefits elsewhere.
Zest CEO Matt Russell said: “Benefits are an effective approach to reward employees, but too many packages offer poor value for both employer and employee.”
He pointed to financial services as a rare example of a sector tailoring perks to staff needs. He warned that the education sector “must pay greater attention to their rewards packages if they are to retain staff”.
As salary growth slows and costs rise, benefits offer a less expensive, more targeted way for employers to retain talent, researchers added.
