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The future of benefits: as our priorities shift, what new workplace perks are on the horizon?
By Meg Walters
2 years ago
4 min read
As our priorities shift, some employers are adding new perks to their employees’ contracts – here’s what the future of benefits might look like.
What makes a potential workplace appealing? Is it the colleagues? The culture? Or is it the benefits?
Benefits are a huge selling point for most employees. In fact, in 2022, roughly half of UK employees claimed that they’d be willing to sacrifice pay if it meant they could tailor their perks to their personal needs.
Most employers offer a pretty standard set of benefits – typically, they include things like holiday, training, free workplace meals, insurance and wellness perks.
However, as workplace culture continues to shift towards more inclusivity, many women are looking for something a little different from their perks packages. In turn, the future of workplace benefits may look a little different to how it does today.
We spoke to career coaches Laura Cloke and Happy HQ’s Janine Jacobs to find out what women are looking for from their perks today – and how this could shape the future of workplace benefits in the UK.
The current state of affairs: are benefits balanced?
In most organisations, benefit schemes aren’t entirely balanced – the perks on offer tend to help some employees more than others. “While some employers have started offering a wider range of benefits, there’s much room for improvement,” Jacobs says. “Traditional benefits like gym memberships may not be fully utilised and might not cater to the specific needs of all employee groups, including women.”
Traditional benefits may not be fully utilised
Janine Jacobs
According to Cloke, one of the biggest imbalances in traditional benefit packages is a lack of childcare support.
“One of the biggest barriers to women at work is that a disproportionate amount of the caring responsibilities, especially childcare, fall to them,” she says. “The support employers offer to support caring needs varies greatly, with a lack of flexibility around childcare being particularly challenging.”
Why a modernised benefits scheme helps everyone
Both Jacobs and Cloke agree that employers and employees alike can benefit from more modernised, inclusive, flexible schemes.
“Getting the best out of your staff is more than just paying them a fair salary; good working conditions and benefits can help people to feel good at work, too,” Cloke notes. “Staff who are fulfilled at work are more productive, and I think people want to work for an organisation that cares about their wellbeing.”
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The future of benefits: what can we expect to see in the future?
In the future, the best employers will be the ones who take all of their employees’ needs into account when deciding which benefits they offer.
Usually, this will mean offering a wider range of benefits. Some we might begin to see cropping up include:
Egg freezing
“An egg freezing benefit can provide women with more flexibility when it comes to family planning and career progression,” says Jacobs.
While egg freezing may seem like an unusual benefit, some companies, such as Okta, have begun covering the cost of the procedure for employees, as reported by the Financial Times.
Parental leave
While statutory maternity leave can help support women after they’ve given birth, more and more employees will be looking for companies that can offer more generous parental leave schemes. In particular, we can expect to see more companies embracing paternity leave benefits.
“This isn’t just about support for women; paternity leave and shared parental leave uptake in the UK is very low, and equality of parenting can only happen when men are also supported in their jobs,” says Cloke.
Term-time working
Many parents struggle to balance childcare and work during school holidays. In the future, employers may begin to offer more flexibility during school holidays – some may even offer term-time working schedules.
“This allows parents to take holidays that coincide with their children’s school holidays,” says Jacobs.
Credit: Getty
Flexible work
This has been on the rise for years, but in the future, we can expect to see even more companies investing in flexible working options.
“I think flexible working can be one of the most helpful benefits that employers can offer,” Cloke says. “Many people require flexibility with their working day, whether that is parents who need to look after their children, people with illnesses and disabilities, women experiencing menopause symptoms or just having to deal with the challenges life throws at you. If there is a bit of give and take in how, where and when you work, it can really benefit both employer and employee, so everyone wins.”
Virtual services
As virtual services become more and more commonplace, we can expect to see employers offering them in their benefits packages.
“These could include virtual GP appointments, mental health support or fitness classes that can be accessed at any time, providing flexibility and convenience,” says Jacobs.
Ultimately, employers will need to update and modernise their benefit packages if they wish to remain attractive to potential employees. The more personalised their packages, the better.
“The traditional ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach is losing relevance in today’s workplace, which spans three generations, each with unique needs and circumstances,” Jacobs says. “Especially against the backdrop of a cost of living crisis, while pay will always be important, what can set one company apart from the rest is its employee benefits and how meaningful they are. Because no matter how generous one-size-fits-all benefits schemes are, they don’t provide an option for employees to tailor to individual circumstances or needs.”
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