Health insurance tops the lists of workplace benefits demanded by baby boomers, millennials and Gen X workers. But employers may have to revisit their benefits packages to attract and retain younger workers, according to a report by LIMRA.
The report found that paid time off was just as important to millennials as medical insurance. Seventy-seven percent ranked it four or five on a five-point scale. Gen X also want paid time off, with 85 percent ranking it a four or five.
Retirement savings was among the top three benefits cited by all three generations, but not surprisingly, boomers ranked it highest, with 84 percent saying it was important. Seventy-one percent of millennials said it was important and 82 percent of Gen X ranked it as needed.
The study also looked at how employers view benefits and what they feel is most important to their workers. Employers overall tended to underestimate how important some benefits are to those under age 40, compared with what employees said.
For example, the report said, employers’ perceived the importance of life insurance for younger generations was 44 percent, but 60 percent of employees under age 40 said life insurance was important.
Similarly, the report found that employers viewed work-life benefits less important for younger generations. Forty-six percent of employers thought work-life benefits were important to their under-40 employees. However, 61 percent of employees under age 40 cited work-life benefits as important.
The report noted that employers also overestimated the importance of some benefits for workers ages 40 and older, believing that 83 percent of workers in that age category would feel dental insurance is important. But the report showed 60 percent of older workers said dental insurance is important.
Similarly, 80 percent of employers believed their employees over 40 would rate vision insurance as important, while just 51 percent of workers in that age category considered vision insurance as important