Today, several generations in the workforce bring diverse skills, expertise, and life experiences to their jobs, so employers must offer age-friendly benefits if they want to successfully attract and retain today’s multigenerational workforce, revealed a new study.
Yet, according to the latest survey report from non-profit Transamerica Institute and its Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (TCRS), around 47% of employers have found it difficult to recruit new employees. Although most employers consider their companies to be “age-friendly” by offering opportunities, work arrangements, and training and tools needed for employees of all ages to be successful, only 65% of workers actually consider their employers to be age-friendly.
“Employers that implement best practices for a multigenerational workforce can potentially increase productivity while supporting the professional growth and work-life balance of their employees,” stated Catherine Collinson, CEO and President of Transamerica Institute and TCRS.
MULTIGENERATIONAL WORKFORCE NEEDS
While many companies seek to embrace a multigenerational workforce, they have not yet addressed the opportunity. For example, the report entitled Emerging From the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Employer’s Perspective, revealed that:
- Only 34% of employers have adopted a formal diversity and inclusion policy statement referencing age among other demographic characteristics.
- Nine in 10 offer one or more types of alternative work arrangements (92%), including flexible work schedules (60%), the ability to adjust work hours as needed (54%), and the ability to work remotely (51%).
- Eight in 10 offer one or more programmes to support care-giving employees (80%), including unpaid leave of absence (37%), paid leave of absence (31%), online resources and/or tools (27%), an employee assistance programme that offers counselling and referral services (23%), and a benefit that offers referrals to backup care (22%).
- Three in 10 have a formal phased retirement programme with specific provisions and requirements (31%). Regardless of whether they offer a formal programme, some employers have work-related programmes to help pre-retirees transition including flexible work schedules and arrangements (44%), the ability to reduce hours and shift from full-time to part-time (36%), and the ability to take on less stressful or demanding jobs (34%).
GAPS IN RETIREMENT & HEALTH BENEFITS
“Employers play a vital societal role by providing employment, employee benefits, and the ability for workers to save and invest for a secure retirement. Especially now, amid the ongoing effects of the pandemic, employers need support from policymakers to make it as easy as possible to modernise their business practices, expand their benefit offerings, and address the evolving needs of their employees,” said Collinson.
The research also identified gaps in employers’ health and retirement benefit offerings and business practices. “A robust compensation and benefits package is a win-win situation in the workplace. It can help employers attract and retain talent while providing employees income, work-life balance, and the ability to save for retirement while protecting their health, wellbeing and financial situation,” highlighted Collinson.
Almost two-thirds of employers (64%) believe health insurance, retirement benefits, and/or other benefits to be very important in their ability to attract and retain employees. Despite this emphasis on employee benefits, there is still a sizeable shortfall when comparing the percentage of employers that offer specific benefits with the percentage of workers who value them as important. “As employers evaluate their benefits offering, they have an opportunity to further support the physical and mental health and the financial well-being of their employees,” noted Collinson.
CURRENT STATE OF RETIREMENT OFFERINGS
“Employer-sponsored retirement plans, including 401(k)s and similar plans, have proven to be the most effective way to facilitate long-term savings among workers. Unfortunately, not all workers have access to these benefits, especially those working for small companies,” added Collinson.
The survey findings outline employers’ retirement benefits and identify opportunities for expanding coverage and enhancing plan features. Key findings include:
- Retirement plan sponsorship rates are lower among small companies. Around 55% of employers offer a 401(k) or similar plan to their employees. These employee-funded plans are more commonly offered by large and medium companies (92%, 89%, respectively), compared with small companies (46%) where the opportunity for expanding retirement plan coverage is greatest.
- More employers may offer a retirement plan in the future. Among employers that do not offer a 401(k) or similar plan, 43% say they are likely to begin doing so in the next two years. Moreover, 27% of employers unlikely to offer a plan say they would consider joining a multiple employer plan (MEP), pooled employer plan (PEP), or group of plans (GoP).
- Automatic enrolment can make it more convenient for workers to save because it eliminates the necessary action steps for employees to enrol in and start contributing to the plan. Instead, it automatically enrols employees into their plan with the ability for them to opt out and stop contributing. Additionally, 23% percent of plan sponsors have adopted automatic enrolment.
- Plan sponsors could do more to help workers financially transition to retirement. Pre-retirees face complex financial decisions. Relatively few plan sponsors provide access to a financial advisor (44%), education about transitioning into retirement (41%), and educational resources (40%).
You can access the Emerging From the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Employer’s Perspective report here.
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