Workplace the Primary Financial Supermarket for
Many
April 7, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A new study finds
52% of working Americans are now getting the majority of
their financial and retirement products through the workplace
- up from 46% a year ago.
A MetLife news release about its Annual Employee
Benefits Trends Study, said the research found that the
workplace has become the dominant starting point for
building a strong financial safety net. Growing financial
concerns among employees are also creating a greater
interest in advice and guidance at the workplace.
Some 44% of employee respondents indicated they
would like access to general financial planning advice at
work, up from 30% last year, the release said. Nearly
half (49%) of all employees also said they want their
employers to provide retirement advice.
"This increased employee appetite for advice at the
workplace is a significant development," said Bill
Mullaney, President, MetLife Institutional Business, in
the release. "It presents a tremendous opportunity for
U.S. employers to optimize the real and perceived value
of their benefit plans. Having a benefit program that
meets the diverse needs of their employees - and
communicating more frequently about benefit offerings -
can result in improved employee retention, which
continues to dominate employers' minds as their top
benefits objective."
Additional study findings included:
-
Employers underestimate how important benefits
are to employee loyalty; benefits are increasingly
important factors in employees' decisions to remain
with their employer.
Some 72% of employees said retirement benefits are an
important factor in loyalty, where only 41% of
employers said the same.
-
Employer focus and spending on retiree benefits
is expected to increase; employees have strong
interest in retirement benefits.
When asked about the importance of benefits in
retention and workplace loyalty, retirement benefits and
advancement opportunities tied for the third most
critical factor for employees, behind salary/wages
(first) and health benefits (second).