But organisations urged to focus on providing 'employee-centric' benefits
The number of employers that are adopting global minimum standard for employee benefits has surged to 70% in 2023, according to a WTW report.
The figure is nearly double the 36% of employers who said the same in 2019.
The report, which surveyed 254 global operations, found that multinational companies are accelerating the use of global minimum standards for benefits as employees' priorities change.
This can be observed through the growing popularity of minimum parental leave standards, benefits such as live cover and retirement, as well as health provisions among multinational firms, according to WTW.
"More employers are incorporating global minimum standards for employee benefits, as part of designing benefits that better support employee wellbeing, attraction and retention," said Nigel Bateman, Managing Director of Integrated & Global Solutions at WTW, in a statement.
"Global minimum standards are one way to signal an ambition for employee benefits to be inclusive."
He added that employers are also looking at how their benefits align with their organisations' purpose and convey their values. According to the report, 63% of employers are already looking into those objectives in the next three years.
'Employee-centric' benefits needed
But Bateman warned that for these goals to be achieved, employers have to fundamentally shift how they operate their benefits programmes.
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This comes as only 28% of employers said they are focused on flexibility/choice, while a smaller 27% said they are aligning their benefits programmes with what employees want.
Being market competitive remains the top priority for employers, according to WTW, though it noted that more value is being put on wellbeing (61%) and equitable and inclusive benefits (56%).
"Employers will need to take a more employee-centric focus on which employee benefits are provided and how they are delivered," Bateman said. "Wellbeing will need to be viewed as an outcome to be achieved, rather than a set of programmes to be added."