More than half (58%) of employees are staying in their current jobs because of their benefits, according to research by Payroll Integrations.
Its 2025 Employee financial wellness report, which surveyed 250 employees and HR leaders, found that among those who cited benefits as a reason to stay, 67% pointed to strong health insurance cover, 53% to competitive retirement plans and 53% to family-related benefits.
Nearly half (44%) feel completely supported in their financial wellbeing, up from 28% in 2024. Employee respondents said higher cost-of-living adjustments (57%), access to budgeting tools (44%), retirement guidance (43%) and personalised benefit options (41%) would further boost this.
Meanwhile, employer respondents said they are addressing financial wellbeing gaps by offering retirement savings assistance (76%), healthcare premium coverage (52%) and medical reimbursements (51%), but 64% feel they could do more.
Two-fifths (42%) of employee respondents said their benefit needs are fully met with their current package, while naming financial and wellbeing compensation (33%), additional pay (32%) and mental health support (31%) as top priorities after healthcare (36%) and retirement (33%).
Employers, on the other hand, rank childcare assistance (39%), emergency savings accounts (37%) and health savings accounts (32%) as key offerings. A total of 44% said offering competitive benefits to attract talent is one of their top challenges.
Nearly all Millennials (93%) and 85% of Gen Z workers feel employers should help fill financial support gaps not currently met by government programmes, compared with 80% of Gen X and 64% of baby boomers.
When asked which benefits they want to receive, 62% of Gen Z said health insurance, 43% of Millennials value fitness and wellbeing offerings, 43% of Gen X prioritise additional compensation, and 27% of baby boomers focus on retirement plans and pet insurance.
Doug Sabella, chief executive officer of Payroll Integrations, said: “Employees have growing confidence in their financial wellness and their benefits, which is a strong sign employers are headed in the right direction with their offerings, but there’s still work to be done to fully align with employees’ needs. One of the biggest ways employers can increase their support is by automating the manual tasks that take up more than a quarter of their work week to instead focus on employee priorities and ensure benefits are delivering real value.”
