Indian employers need to rethink benefits strategy amid rising costs

Employers are facing a range of challenges including rapidly rising benefits costs, and difficulties in the ability to engage, attract, and retain key talent.

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With a mental health crisis, issues around the cost of living, and the accelerating focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns and benefits inclusivity, steering the right course on benefits strategy is more challenging than ever.

The 2023 Benefits Trends Survey reflecting responses from 364 employers in India found that:

Key factors influencing organisation’s benefits strategy

Competition for talent (65%), rising costs (38%), flexible work arrangements (37%), and focus on I&D (31%) are the top factors influencing benefits strategy.

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Impact on benefits budget

Approximately 40% of respondents expect the persistence of higher inflation and a weak business environment to impact their benefits budget.

Misalignment in employee and employer expectations

Employers in India see risk and insurance benefits (51%), health benefits (51%), and career, training, and development (43%) as the most important benefits in their portfolios, while employees are placing greater emphasis on retirement plan / long-term finances (33%), financial wellbeing / short-term finances (29%) and flexible work arrangements (28%).

WTW’s 2023 Benefit Trends Survey examined the future direction of an organization’s benefits strategy:-

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• How innovative solutions are used for old and new challenges.
• How employers are changing and adapting their benefits design, financing, administration, and analytics.

The survey was conducted between March and April this year with responses from a total of 5,233 employers across 95 markets globally, representing 22.9 million employees.

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Amongst these, 1,746 employers are based in Asia Pacific, representing 4.9 million employees. In India, 364 employers took part in the survey, representing 2.1 million employees.