Education, healthcare, and hospitality have emerged as the sectors with the lowest employee satisfaction when it comes to benefits, according to research from Zest.
According to the findings, only 42 per cent of education professionals and 48 per cent of healthcare workers say their benefits package offers good value for money, compared to 54 per cent of hospitality and leisure employees.
But 57 per cent of education employees still believe their benefits are inadequate, and 37 per cent are considering leaving the sector due to poor offerings.
The findings come despite 39 per cent of HR leaders in education reporting increased investment in benefits over the past year.
Meanwhile, financial services led the rankings, with 76 per cent of employees satisfied with the value of their reward packages. Business services and IT followed closely at 75 per cent, with professional services at 70 per cent and manufacturing at 63 per cent rounding out the top five.
Across all sectors, engagement with benefits remains low as a majority of employees, 58 per cent, say they don’t use most of the benefits available. Nearly half, 47 per cent, feel the benefits are not suited to their personal needs, while 37 per cent of employers say they’ve increased investment in benefits, but just 45 per cent of staff feel their needs are being met.
About 19 per cent of employers are struggling to match rising salaries, and 58 per cent of employees say they’d switch jobs for better benefits.
Zest CEO Matt Russell says: “Benefits are an effective approach to reward employees, but too many packages offer poor value for both employer and employee.
“Financial services firms are doing a better job than other sectors when it comes to understanding employee needs. Getting a benefits package right ensures that employees are fully supported, more empowered and more productive – key to meeting commercial targets and business growth plans.
“However, this research will make for painful reading for education businesses – the sector is the worst-performing in terms of value for money in the eyes of its employees. Leaders in this sector must pay greater attention to their rewards packages if they are to retain staff – many of whom are considering changing sectors in order to access the support they sorely need.”
