Employee Benefits Market Check Survey: Top Benefit Priority in 2023

Employers have many competing priorities for employee benefits initiatives in today’s competitive labor market, coupled with inflation pressures and an uncertain legislative environment. Employers look to balance short-term needs while focusing on their long-term employee benefits strategies.

We conducted a poll during a webcast on January 19 to gain insight into employers’ top benefits priorities in 2023. We compare these results against responses we received to a similar question in 2021 and 2022. The results are in the chart below.

Top Employee Benefit Priority
January 2023 vs. January 2022 and July 2021

Key Findings

Managing costs will always be a main focus for employers. With rising medical trends (see our December 2022 Market Check Survey on medical cost increase), over a third of employers are watching budget over all other initiatives. After budget management, 22% of employers are prioritizing employee wellbeing. The long-term effects of the pandemic still linger for many, which means both physical and mental wellbeing is at continued risk of deteriorating.

As employers evolve their strategies in this challenging market, they must continue to prioritize employee needs against the company’s business objectives.

Should you have any questions or are interested in any industry-specific data, please contact your local Assurex Global adviser.