A news release from insurer MetLife about
its
Employee Benefits Trends Study
said the nation's economic woes have also
motivated
52% of Gen Y respondents to desire access to
retirement planners, and 45% are interested in getting
workplace access to benefits advisers.
Of the Gen Y respondents, only 35% are very
satisfied with their workplace benefits and only 39% say
they understand which benefits best meet their
needs.
In 2007, 48% of Gen Y employees said insurance
benefits such as life, disability, dental and vision
coverage, were very significant factors affecting their
feelings of loyalty to their employers. That percentage
climbed to 71% in 2008. MetLife said these insurance
benefits now fall within the top three primary factors
influencing employee loyalty, after medical coverage and
salary.
Benefits Happiness = Job Satisfaction
According to the news release, benefits
satisfaction has a positive relationship with job
satisfaction. In fact, among employees across all
generations who said they were highly satisfied with
their benefits, 73% were also satisfied with their jobs.
Only 22% of those employees who were not satisfied with
their benefits were satisfied with their jobs.
"Since Gen Y workers obtain the majority of their
financial protection products at the workplace, employers
have a tremendous opportunity to develop a benefits
program that can help retain this mobile demographic - a
big win both for employers looking to grow their talent
base and for employees who are interested in obtaining
valuable assistance in building secure financial safety
nets for themselves and their families," said Todd Katz,
senior vice president, Institutional Business, MetLife,
in the news release.
In terms of their general finances, more than half
(53%) of Gen Y employees say they are now living paycheck
to paycheck - up from 50% in 2007 - versus 44% of their
older associates. Nearly three in four (73%) are very
concerned about having enough money to make ends meet,
compared to 56% of Generation X employees and 62% of Baby
Boomers.
The MetLife study surveyed full-time Generation Y
employees born between 1977 and 1987; Generation X
employees born between 1965 and 1976; and Baby Boomers
born between 1946 and 1964.
More than 1,500 interviews were conducted with
benefits decision-makers at companies with two or more
employees, representing a mix of industries and
geographic regions, and more than 1,300 interviews were
conducted with full-time employees, age 21 and over, at
companies with a minimum of two employees.
More information is available at
whymetlife.com/trends2009
.