Tough times have employees placing greater reliance on benefits for financial security, as employers affirm their commitment to sponsoring those benefits albeit with increased cost sharing.
That’s one upshot from the 10th Annual MetLife Annual Study of Employee Benefits Trends released Monday. It found that since 2002 employer’s top benefits objectives — controlling costs, attracting and retaining employees and increased productivity – have remained fairly constant. However, some delivery aspects have changed, such as the growth of auto-enrollment features in 401(k) plans. For advisers, the trends seem to point toward stable expenditures for core benefits, but greater funding from employees, including voluntary benefit purchases.
