Des Moines-based Principal Financial Group has released its latest Principal Financial Well-Being Index, which signifies an increased focus on key employee well-being initiatives and how benefits are helping employers cope with the pandemic fluctuation as they also make businesses more competitive for the next phase of recovery and growth.
As reported in the index, more than 90% of surveyed businesses plan to increase at least one benefit in the next 12 months. The index also shows that most businesses (82%) expect their financials to keep improving over the next 12 months.
The survey of 500 employers from companies with two to 10,000 employees spans a diverse array of industries, with more than half of the employers falling within finance/insurance, professional/scientific/technical, construction, manufacturing, and information management. Data shows that almost 70% of surveyed businesses have improved financials, compared to this time last year, and 84% are comfortable with their cash flow despite the continuing impact of the pandemic.
In addition, 63% of businesses reported being fully operational, driving the need for additions to their workforce, and more businesses say they’re hiring, from fewer than one-third in March to nearly half in June.
“As businesses start to ramp up operations, employers are dealing with the complex American labor shortage and a workforce empowered to determine where they want to work and what they want from an employer, making benefit offerings more critical,” said Amy Friedrich, president of U.S. Insurance Solutions at Principal.
Other key findings in the survey include:
- A greater percentage of businesses plan to increase telehealth (42%), health care benefits (41%), and mental health/well-being services (38%) in the next 12 months.
- Sixty-five percent of businesses are improving digital access to benefits for employees, while only 14% lack any digital options. This digitalization addresses the need to help employees better understand their benefits (71%), onboarding employees online (62%), and the need of reducing paper (40%).
- About 70% of employers agree with the positives of financial wellness programs, ranging from improving employee long-term financial planning to helping attract and retain talent. But only 62% of businesses offer financial wellness benefit programs.
- Forty-five percent of businesses see access to a financial professional as the most useful financial wellness offering for employees (out of 25 options in the survey). That is followed by tax preparation services (35%), identity theft protection (34%), and savings programs for higher education (34%).
- Over 80% of businesses see retirement plan offerings as essential in the attraction and retention of talent, and 74% of employers feel it is their role to help employees prepare for retirement.
To view the survey results, visit the full infographic report (PDF).
