The best employee benefits to attract top talent in 2024

Research shows that 78% of workers would stay with a company because they like the employee benefits offering. These numbers illustrate just how important benefits packages are when it comes to attracting and retaining talented employees.

In the current economic climate that is marked by fierce competition for talent and high employee turnover, offering attractive employee benefits packages has become more important than ever.

What benefits do employees want in 2024? What are the most important employee benefit trends businesses should be aware of? How to build a competitive employee benefits package that will attract and bind top talent?

There are many different aspects that go into choosing a new place of work, and an attractive benefits package certainly is one of them. A strong offering of employee benefits can be a decisive factor for highly qualified candidates to apply for a position with a company.

Also, offering additional perks on top of an attractive salary can significantly reduce employee turnover. This, in turn, has a direct positive impact on employee productivity and your business’s cash flow because less time and money needs to be spent on recruiting, onboarding, and training new employees.

Finally, a comprehensive benefit offering is an investment in your employees. Continuous employee training and development, financial support, and health and wellbeing initiatives increase employee happiness and will ultimately motivate employees to go the extra mile for the company.

Keeping up with the latest employee benefit trends and developments is key for creating compelling benefit packages that not only motivate existing employees to stay with the company, but also help attract top talent to fill open positions.

Here are the most important employee benefits trends for 2024:

• Increased focus on employee wellbeing,

• Growing emphasis on mental health programs,

• Heightened focus on financial security,

• Continued demand for flexibility and remote work,

• Employee voices calling for better work-life balance getting louder,

• Personalization elevating the value of employee benefits packages,

• Combining employee benefits offering and sustainability initiatives,

• Making employee benefits more easily accessible through enhanced technology,

• Lifestyle benefits on the rise,

• Strong need to diversify employee benefits packages, and

• New opportunities for enhancing PTO policies.

In 2024, businesses will have to set new standards for their benefits packages, focusing more on personalization, employee wellbeing, flexibility, and DE&I. Here are some of the top employee benefits that shouldn’t be missing in your benefits and compensation offering in 2024.

1. Equipment and home office set-up

If you allow your employees to work from home (or from wherever they choose), you should make sure they have the right equipment to do so in a comfortable and efficient manner. This not only includes a laptop and a monitor, but also proper office furniture, a stable internet connection, and a work phone. Basically, all the things you would usually provide to your employees at the office.

Most companies opt for a so-called remote work stipend, which is a fixed sum of money allocated to employees for the purpose of adapting their home office set-up to their personal needs.

2. Mental health support

It’s a well-known truth that remote work can be lonely. In a study among 1,000 remote workers from 55 different countries, more than half of the respondents stated experiencing recurring loneliness. Loneliness can have a huge impact on mental health which, in turn, can weigh down on employee performance.

Employers should therefore include mental health programs in their employee benefits packages. For instance, you could offer regular workshops that tackle common mental health issues, or give employees access to meditation apps, fitness trackers, or online yoga classes.

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3. Wellbeing budgets

Employee wellbeing includes both mental and physical wellness, which is why employers should cover both health aspects with their employee benefits offering. Physical health issues affect both manual and knowledge workers.

For knowledge workers, the effects of work on their physical health are often related to a lack of exercise and sleep due to stress and high workload. As a preventative measure, employers should consider introducing wellbeing budgets employees can use to increase their overall wellbeing. These budgets could include online fitness classes, a healthy food delivery subscription, or a monthly spa voucher.

4. Flexible working arrangements

Flexible working arrangements continue to be a popular employee benefit in 2024. Offering employees flexibility when it comes to when and where they do their work is a great way for employers to improve their employees’ work-life balance.

Flexible work not only benefits employees, but also holds several benefits for companies. For instance, it increases productivity, improves employee retention, and helps businesses attract top talent.

5. Childcare support

Another important aspect to consider for your 2024 benefits package is childcare support. One thing that the pandemic really has shone a light on is how much parents struggle to combine their family and work life.

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “work-life balance and childcare benefits are key in the remote work era”. But also for non-remote workers, finding the right balance between work and their parental duties can be challenging.

Offering flexible working hours is one way of supporting employees in this aspect of their lives, but employers should also look into contributing towards the costs of daycare facilities.

6. Generous PTO policies

Studies have shown that 50% of workers prefer a flexible time off policy to higher pay. Given the importance employees place on paid time off (PTO), employers who are looking to enhance their employee benefits program in 2024 should definitely improve their PTO policies.

Offering employees unlimited PTO is becoming more and more popular. But even employers who are reluctant to offer their employees unlimited time off should increase the flexibility of their PTO policies and consider aspects like childcare, mental health, and more.

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7. Supplemental insurance coverage

Especially in countries like the United States where the mandatory social security coverage for employees is very basic and healthcare costs are high, offering employees a generous insurance package, including healthcare, life insurance, pension plans, and more, can be a real game changer for talent acquisition and employee retention.

Providing comprehensive insurance coverage not only shows employees that you care, but also gives them a feeling of financial stability and security.

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8. Flexible payment options

57% of employees report that financial worries are the main cause of stress in their lives. Financial worries can have a severe negative impact on mental and physical health, productivity, and happiness. Employers who aim at increasing the overall wellbeing of their employees should therefore also think about financial security when creating new employee benefits packages for 2024.

There are different ways employers can support financial wellness among their employees, including fair pay practices and flexible payment options, such as Earned Wage Access (EWA). Earned Wage Access, also known as on-demand pay, instant pay, or early pay, allows employees to access their wages as they earn them.

This means that employees have access to funds as they become available, which increases their financial flexibility and guarantees a constant cash flow. Also, employers can offer payroll advances to employees to provide financial support in times of economic hardship.

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9. Exciting career opportunities

Offering career development as an employee benefit holds several advantages for both employees and employers. For employees, the prospect of advancing in their career and celebrating professional achievements is a great motivator and a major contributor to job satisfaction.

Employers benefit from career development programs because it simplifies succession planning and helps them ensure that important leadership roles are filled with people who are not only qualified for the position, but also familiar with the company. Additionally, development opportunities motivate employees to work harder, which ultimately increases business income.

10. Learning and Development programs

Career development programs go hand in hand with another employee benefit whose popularity will remain unchanged in 2024. Learning and Development (short: L&D) continues to be a strong motivator for employees, which is why employers who offer varied L&D programs are at an advantage when it comes to employee retention.

Adding a generous L&D budget to your employee benefits package is a win-win situation for you and your employees. Your employees will feel valued because you invest in their professional and personal development, which is likely to increase their loyalty towards the company.

At the same time, your business will benefit from high-qualified employees who continuously develop their skills and are therefore well-prepared to fill key leadership positions in the future.

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11. Other ideas for personalized employee benefits packages

Surveys show that employees are far less likely to quit when they feel that their employer cares. According to findings from Ernst & Young, trust, empowerment and care from the leadership team can reduce the likelihood of employees quitting by 40%.

There are many different ways for businesses to show employees that they care, one of them being personalized employee benefits packages. Creating an individual benefits offering makes employees feel valued.

In contrast to standard benefit offerings that are the same for every employee, personalized benefits packages allow employees to choose from a range of different benefits to create their own personal mix.

Here are some ideas for personalizing your benefits offering:

• Additional days off for volunteering,

• Birthday PTO,

• Sabbaticals for employees with a long tenure at the company,

• Extended parental leave,

• Longevity bonuses,

• Pet insurance,

• Adoption leave and support,

• Commuter benefits, and

• Student loan repayments.