Nearly One-Quarter of Companies Report Adding New Executive Benefits

A significantly higher percentage of companies (24%) reported adding new benefits than in previous years (a 20-year average of 8%) in 2025 according to Goldman Sachs Ayco’s 2025 Executive Benefits Survey, the results of which were released Wednesday.

More companies reported considering introducing executive benefits in the next two years (20%) than eliminating them (5%), suggesting corporate decisionmakers continue to make significant investments in benefit offerings to recruit and retain top executives.

The survey reviewed non-monetary benefits that can enhance an executive’s overall compensation package and quality of life. As more than half (56%) of executives report they are likely to leave their positions in the next two years, executive benefits can be a key component of an effective talent attraction and retention strategy, according to Goldman Sachs’ report.

The reasons for executive benefits are “twofold,” according to Jonathan Barber, Goldman Sachs Ayco’s head of compensation and benefits solutions. First, they are considered a “reward” for attaining a certain “status” within a company. They also make executives’ lives easier, allowing them to turn more of their attention to their company duties.

Spotlighting Security

In 2025, executive security benefits became a top consideration in response to recent violence and threats against executives. For CEOs, companies offering personal security and cybersecurity benefits increased by 10 and 12 percentage points, respectively, from 2023, and home security benefits reached the highest level (27% for CEOs and 11% for senior executives) since 2003.

According to the report, the most common examples of personal security benefits, which exclude home security and cybersecurity, included:

• At least one security person to accompany the executive on business travel, at public engagements and wherever else a security risk assessment has identified a heightened risk;
• An armed driver and a secure company vehicle for business travel and commuting; and
• A home security assessment.

More Additions and Eliminations

Considering the last two years, survey respondents most commonly reported adding financial counseling services (41%), executive physical exams (18%)— that include comprehensive preventive wellness checks typically completed within a half-to-full-day visit—and tax preparation services (11%), all characterized as “physical and fiscal benefits,” according to the report. Companies most often considered adding financial counseling (27%), personal security (15%) and executive physical exams (14%) to their executive benefits lineups.

Among the 7% of companies that eliminated at least one executive benefit in the past two years, the most common eliminations were access to a company aircraft for personal use (19%), executive life insurance for new participants (14%) and executive physical exams (14%). Only 5% of companies reported considering eliminating at least one benefit in the next two years. Of those, the most common marked for possible elimination were executive physical exams (23%), car allowances (15%) and executive long-term disability for new participants (15%).

The top personal executive benefits were much less common than the top physical and fiscal benefits: 24% percent of companies reported offering executive charitable giving matches to CEOs and senior executives; 15% and 16% of companies reported offering entertainment or sports tickets to the groups; and 10% and 8% reported offering country club memberships and paid dues.

The benefits dropping off each year tend to be the “old-time status benefits” that are hard to justify, says Barber, such as “country club dues or a lunch club … those struggle.”

Changes in Air Travel

Although most transportation benefit offerings remained relatively consistent with 2023 levels, the most significant changes were in the personal use of company aircraft and first-class air travel.

The personal use of a company aircraft dropped five percentage points for senior executives, to 17% from 22% in 2023. Forty-seven percent of companies offered it to their CEOs. The principal reasons cited by those still offering the benefit were security (54%), efficiency (30%) and convenience (16%).

Offering first-class air travel for CEOs and senior executives increased by six percentage points and four percentage points, respectively, to bring both to 32%.

Historic Trends

According to the report, the prevalence of non-financial executive benefits for CEOs and senior executives generally declined from about 2005 to 2011 but is now trending back toward or exceeding 2005 levels. The report attributed the downturn to several factors, including increased Securities and Exchange Commission disclosure rules on perquisites; the 2008 financial crisis; and the enactment under the Dodd-Frank Act of say-on-pay rules, which require public companies to provide shareholders with an advisory vote on the compensation of their most highly compensated executives.

Benefits “easy to justify as legitimate business expenses” to shareholders were typically the ones moving toward early 2000s levels, the research found. These included benefits that promote efficiency, fiscal well-being, focus, mental health, physical health, reputational risk and safety.

“The benefits that check more of the boxes as mutual benefits to [both] shareholders and executives are the ones that are doing well,” says Barber.

In addition, cyber security protection has more than tripled across all executive tiers since 2021, and personal security for CEOs has increased by 10% since 2023.

Companies have also slowly, but steadily, increased their benefits for other executives since 2005, reflecting their recognition of the value in extending such perks further down the organizational structure.

Survey responses from 291 compensation and benefits professionals were collected online from April 30 through June 27.