Businesses are missing a trick by not tailoring work place benefits by gender and age, according to a new PwC study of 2,400 UK employees. The study reveals wide variation in workplace benefits favoured by gender and age, with most wanting to see tangible benefits introduced to cut living costs.
Gender difference
Asked to choose their top two workplace benefits, medical insurance was valued highly by one third of women (32 percent) but only a quarter of men (24 percent). Company car schemes however, were more popular among men, with 29 percent choosing them as the benefit they’d most like to see introduced at work, compared to 21 percent of women. Women were also nearly twice as likely as men to ask for childcare benefits to be introduced. Pensions were five percent more popular with men than women, while workplace share schemes were nine percent more popular among male employees than with female.
Respondents revealed an overall preference for employee benefits that cut the cost of living. Asked to rank a selection of new employee benefits, discount shopping vouchers were the surprising favourite, chosen by 44 percent of respondents. Healthcare (36 percent) and help with mortgage rates (37 percent) were the second and third most popular choices among those surveyed. Extra holiday was in fourth place, with 35 percent of respondents citing it within their top three.
John Harding, Pay, Performance and Risk partner at PwC, said: “Our research highlights that reward is by no means a one size fits all. Despite record low inflation, many people are still feeling the squeeze and value benefits that will save them money. Employers need to understand their people and their diversity to design a reward programme that takes account of individual preference. Effectively communicating and targeting benefits to different segments of the workforce could bring significant cost savings and stop the employer wasting valuable cash on benefits that are simply not valued by everyone.”
Generation Y
The survey also suggests that employees starting out in their careers are more likely to be willing to take risks with their pay and are more attracted to the upside of variable remuneration. Asked to swap £1,000 of their salary for the opportunity to receive a performance-related bonus of £5,000, more than a third of respondents aged under 20 agreed (36 percent) compared to an average across all ages of nearly half that level (20 percent) and 18 percent of those aged 40 to 59.
Bonus-related pay options also changed according to industry, with more than one third of respondents willing to work towards a larger bonus in the manufacturing and professional services industries, compared to 27 percent in the financial services and banking sector, and an average of only 15 percent in the retail, charity and public sectors. Younger employees were also more willing to opt for workplace training, with a quarter of 18-24 year olds choosing a four-day training programme over monetary rewards. Company cars were also more popular with Generation Y, with one third (32 percent) of younger employees choosing a company car scheme compared to 27 percent of those aged 40 and older.
Other day-to-day benefits such as gym membership were also more popular among younger workers, with company gyms chosen as one of 3 most popular benefits by a fifth of respondents in their 20s and 30s compared to just 13 percent in their fifties. Discounted or free food and drink was another winning choice among younger respondents. Overall a quarter of respondents chose a discounted canteen, but this rose to as many as 43 percent for employees aged under 20. More than half of those surveyed aged under 20 also said they would swap 5 percent of their salary in exchange for free food and drink at work.
Housing costs
Access to a better rate mortgage is a popular choice for all employees, with 37 percent citing it as a benefit they’d most like to see introduced. The choice varied between age ranges, with 36 percent of respondents in their 20s choosing this option, 43 percent in their 30s and 38 percent in their 40s. These statistics suggest that the government’s new housing ISA will be popular across age groups, but particularly with those in their 30s who could be looking to buy their first house.
1: PwC’s research is based on a survey of 2,423 working adults aged above 18 years old in December 2014.
PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity.
