More than two-fifths (42%) of employers believe the biggest advantage of offering eye care to employees is improved health and wellbeing due to early detection of illnesses through eye examinations, according to research commissioned by Specsavers Corporate Eyecare.
The survey of 507 HR decision makers, conducted by Opinium in July 2018, found that the next most cited advantage was improved productivity (37%) due to a reduction of ailments such as headaches and tired eyes. Over a third (35%) of respondents, meanwhile, said improved morale was the key advantage of offering eye care to employees.
Jim Lythgow, director of strategic alliances at Specsavers Corporate Eyecare, said: "To have such a high level of employer buy-in to the benefits of eye care is great. There is no magic bullet but if, as a simple but effective benefit, eye care can play even a small part in improving the lives of employees and, therefore, increasing productivity, then it has to be a good thing."
More than a third (34%) of respondents to the survey considered eye care to be a highly valued benefit, while 31% believed it to be a low-cost offering.
Lythgow said: "From this, it would seem that eye care may benefit a business in two strands, as a low-cost but highly valued benefit that can be offered to employees, which is of advantage in itself, and for the additional health, wellbeing and, therefore, productivity and morale-boosting effects.
"It is particularly pleasing that employers and HR professionals are now clearly becoming more aware of the much wider health conditions that eye care can help to monitor, and the positive impact for employees."
