Dive Brief:
- Costco Wholesale topped Indeed's list of top companies for compensation and benefits, followed by Kaiser Permanente, Verizon, FedEx, Apple and Capital One. The companies were selected for offering exceptional compensation and benefits packages and represent different industries and base pay levels.
- All companies offer basic benefits plans, including health care and dental care, retirement plans, parental leave and stock options. But others offer uncommon benefits. Companies cited for their innovative benefits include fourth-place FedEx, with its wedding leave; sixth place Capital One, which offers adoption and surrogacy reimbursements; third place Verizon, which has an employee relief fund for victims of natural disasters; and ninth place Starbucks, with its Starbucks College Achievement Plan.
- Indeed says that although the list of companies is diverse, tech firms are on the cutting-edge of benefits. Fifth place Apple, for example, covers egg freezing for female employees, along with generous product discounts, and 12th place Intel offers fertility assistance, paid sabbaticals and adoption assistance.
Dive Insight:
Employees often look only at their pay as a measure of satisfaction. But many overlook the total compensation package, which includes wages and benefits — and how much great pay and benefits can be relative to industry, as the report notes.
A recent report examined paid parental leave at 20 of the largest employers in the U.S., many of whom employ hourly retail or service workers, and noted that the benefit is increasing in its prevalence across a variety of employer types. The last hold out on the list, Lowe's, recently updated its benefits package to include paid leave and employee development opportunities. As demand for talent remains high, more employers are turning to their total compensation packages to keep talent around, even diversifying their offerings with development opportunities.
Naturally, benefits offered by tech companies may be more expensive and extensive — but that's because competing in the tech field is a different game than competing in the retail space, for example.
Regardless of industry, employers still struggle to communicate their total compensation packages to employees, which can deter progress even for employees that offer innovative solutions. Several studies have shown that while pay is important, a total benefits package can go a long way in making employees feel appreciated and supported at work.