Long story short: Balancing benefits and budget

The talent market is tight, the economy is unpredictable, and employees are seeking stability and support. In this environment, where do budgets and benefits meet?  

"Organizations have fought so hard for every hire, and employee loyalty is incredibly important right now — and probably always should have been," says Amy Friedrich, president of U.S. insurance solutions at Principal. "[Rather than cut benefits], employers are looking at other ways to cut costs."

This week, EBN spoke with business leaders about everything from retirement preparedness and DEI priorities to professional development — all programs that, from a talent perspective, employers cannot afford to cut. But that doesn't mean businesses can't get savvy about their benefits spend. It might just require a bit more education and communication with vendors and advisers. 

"Employers always guess the cost of these things way too high," Friedrich says. "When they're talking about putting a disability benefit in place, which might actually cost $200 to $300 an employee, their guesses are in the $2,000 range. There's still a fundamental gap going on when it comes to the cost of benefits." 

Check out the benefits that employers are prioritizing, despite a cloudy economic climate.