Study: Inflation Impacts Employee Benefits

09.02.2022
HR & Safety

Inflation is impacting the way employees are evaluating benefits, according to new research from The Hartford. 

The August 2022 Future of Benefits Pulse Survey found 40% of U.S. workers reported inflation will make them scale back on benefits they choose during open enrollment. 

Nearly half of workers said inflation is making it difficult to pay for all of their employee benefits in addition to living expenses. 

Nearly half of workers said inflation is making it difficult to pay for benefits.

“I encourage workers to take extra time this year to reflect on what changes have occurred in their life and select the benefits that best fit their individual needs and budget to help protect their finances in the long-run,” head of relationship management strategy and enrollment for group benefits at The Hartford, Dana MacKinnon said. 

Demographics

The research suggests younger workers are more likely to decrease their benefits compared to their older colleagues. 

Of the workers between the ages of 18 and 34 who participated in the study, 51% reported that they are likely to scale back on benefits. 

That percentage decreased to 41% for workers between the ages of 35 and 54 and dropped to 25% for workers over the age of 55. 

Younger workers are more likely to decrease their benefits compared to their older colleagues.

More than half of workers who took part in the survey admitted they should know more about their benefits beyond the standard medical, dental, and vision benefits. 

The survey did give some insight about how employers could help. 

Benefit Choices

Researchers said many workers automatically choose the same benefits year-to-year.

Only 22% of workers said they analyze their coverage and break down the numbers for all of their benefit choices, and 8% of workers said they avoid open enrollment emails overall. 

Researchers recommend employers communicate regularly with employees about their benefits throughout the year.

Researchers recommend employers communicate regularly with employees about their benefits throughout the year.

This way, when it comes time to select benefits, employees have more time to understand the offerings. 

They also recommend employers offer different tools to connect with workers. 

While emails can be the standard, they also suggest hosting webinars, and one-on-one support. 

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