Dive Brief:

• At companies where employees are offered no benefits, only 46% of employees would recommend their employers as great places to work.
• This number climbs to 53% at companies where employees are offered between one and five benefits; with 11 or more offered benefits, this number jumps to 66%, reinforcing employees’ desire for choice.
• Nearly 40% of employees say having a wide selection of benefits would make them feel more loyal to their employer.

Dive Insight:

MetLife’s 13th Annual U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study found a strong correlation between the number of benefits offered by employers and the likelihood that an employee would recommend their employer as a great place to work. The data from the study could prove valuable as employers face a shifting macroeconomic landscape in which unemployment rates are the lowest since 2008, but employees feel less secure both about their jobs and their current financial situation.

Interestingly and in contrast to the 2013 findings - when controlling costs ranked number one - this year’s study found employers ranked employee benefits objectives directly pertaining to employee factors such as retention as extremely important. In fact, 41% of employers ranked retention as their top employee benefits objective, potentially indicating a growing war for talent.