82% want benefits to reflect their priorities

EXCLUSIVE: More than four-fifths (82%) of respondents believe their benefits package should change as their personal circumstances and priorities do, according to research by Davidson Asset Management (DAM).

RussellDAM_Sep15

Its survey of 439 employees, directors and business owners, which is featured in its Employee benefits: 2035 report, also found that 87% of staff think it is their employer’s responsibility to explain how they can get the most out of their benefits package.

The survey also found:

  • 71% of respondents value benefits highly when deciding where to work.
  • Almost half (48%) view mortgage advice as a useful benefit for employers to provide.
  • 41% say buying a house is a greater priority than saving for the future, falling to 22% for respondents over 50 but rising to 58% among those based in London.
  • 86% of respondents value pensions as a benefit, with 90% of those aged 30 and over and 79% of those under 30 putting it in their top four most valued benefits.
  • Just under three-quarters (71%) would like their employer to provide them with a pot of money to be spent on employee benefits.
  • 22% of millenials would like pension contributions to increase over the next 20 years, compared to 45% of over 30s. 
  • A fifth (20%) of respondents would like their benefits package to include ’entrepreneur time’, and 24% would like their employer to reimburse them for their degrees.

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Russell Davidson (pictured), chief executive officer at DAM, said: “Our study shows that age and location are important factors in defining employees’ preferences and opinions but, while confidence in the future of pensions varies, this is a benefit that has risen in importance in the minds of our respondents.

“As the retirement, and arguably health, benefits from the state look set to wane, savvy employers of choice have an opportunity and a duty to recognise this need and reward their people with not just what they want now, but what they need for a lifetime.”