Employers say controlling benefits costs is now their top benefits objective.
A unit of MetLife Inc., New York (NYSE:MET), has published data on that shift in a summary of results from its eighth annual benefits trends study.
The company commissioned a survey of 1,503 benefits decision-makers at U.S. companies with at least 2 employees and a survey of 1,305 interviews with full-time U.S. employees ages 21 and over at companies with at least 2 employees.
In previous years, employers identified retaining good employees are their top benefits objective.
"This year, although retention remains strong, cost control reemerged as their primary concern, chiefly because of the economy," says Dr. Ron Leopold, a vice president at MetLife. T
More than 8 in 10 employers — 84% — now cite productivity as an important benefits objective, up from 79% in 2008.
Meanwhile, 68% of the employees who participated in the employee survey reported feelings of increased job insecurity, a decrease in the quality of their work, an increase in their workload, or an increase in the frequency that financial worries are distracting them at work.
