While the U.S. economy still has room for improvement, there's no denying that more people are working today than they were during the height of the recession. The numbers prove it, as for more than 65 month in a row the private sector has added jobs and the unemployment rate – 5.1 percent – is at its lowest point since 2008, according to estimates from the U.S. Department of Labor.
This is good news for consumers, but less so for employers, seeing as how it gives people who may be looking for a different job more of an incentive to start searching for what else might be available.
However, in an attempt to woo workers away from what's out there, more business owners are offering incentives of their own, according to newly released survey data.
Nearly 40 percent of organizations today offer employee benefits in order to retain employees and recruit for open positions, based on recent polling numbers produced by the Society for Human Resource Management, substantially higher than 2013 and 2012.
Benefits serving as carrot for employers
Recruiting prospective hires is no easy task, given the nature of today's job market, where more people have a higher number of options to choose from. In the last 12 months, roughly 40 percent of business owners and human resources professionals say that they've actively used employee benefits as a tool to enlist people into joining their ranks, SHRM reported. That's up from 26 percent in 2013 and 29 percent in 2012.
Evren Esen, SHRM director of survey programs, pointed out that while raising salaries serves as another way of recruitment and retention, there's been little to no change in base pay, with the median household salary standing at just over $50,000 per year, based on Labor Department figures.
"HR has strategically turned to benefits to attract – and keep – skilled professionals," Esen explained. "From unlimited vacation to unusual perks such as electric car charging stations, companies are using benefits to set themselves apart from the competition."
What HR managers and employers most frequently turn to for benefits is health insurance, the SHRM survey showed. At 96 percent, the vast majority or organizations offer employer-sponsored health care. Additionally, they also pay for the brunt of medical costs, averaging 76 percent of overall health care costs to 24 percent that employees contribute.
Health care is the benefit mostly highly valued by employees," Esen said. "Maintaining coverage is an effective tool for recruitment and retention."
She added that in 2016 and thereafter, other benefit packages will become more of the norm, including flexible work schedules, retirement savings and career development.
Wellness programs may be under delivering
Wellness programs are also frequently used by employers today, something that a higher number of employees are coming to expect. Nearly 70 percent of organizations offer a wellness program, the SHRM survey revealed.
However, wellness programs often fail to deliver, at least not to the degree that recipients would prefer. For instance, according to a separate poll conducted by Survey Sampling International, 85 percent of consumers want better information about their risk of chronic disease, like diabetes, obesity or heart disease. But 83 percent don't know what their blood pressure is.
Hypertension is a leading indicator for a variety of health conditions, but has been dubbed a silent killer because people often don't know when they're at risk for it or when it has developed.
Improved wellness program participation can help employees keep tabs on their well-being. More than half of employers say that wellness program involvement has risen since 2012, according to SHRM's poll findings.
