“Cash is king” may not be fully true when it comes to finding the perfect job, as a newly published survey shows that Americans favor workplace benefits over extra salary.
An AICPA survey of 2,026 U.S. adults, among whom 1,115 were employed, suggests that employers need to be ready to show employees the benefits. Contained in the report, “How well do Americans understand workplace benefits?,” the findings reveal that employees by a 4 to 1 margin said they would choose a job with benefits over an identical job that offered 30% more salary but no benefits.
When the employed adults were asked to choose the top three benefits that they believe would help them reach their financial goals, all generations ranked a 401(k) match and health insurance as the most important benefits at 56% each. These were followed by paid time off (33%), a pension (31%) and flexible working hours (21%).
But there were some significant differences when broken down by generation. One of the most striking was the desire to have a pension. More than half of Baby Boomers (54%) prioritized including it in their top three, while only 16% of Millennials did so. Millennials — now reportedly the largest generation in the workforce — also were more likely than other generations to place higher importance on paid time off, flexible work hours and student loan forgiveness.
Interestingly though, employed adults appear to overestimate the value of their benefits. According to the findings, employed adults on average believe their benefits represent 40% of their total compensation package. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, benefits actually average 31.7% of a total compensation package.
Benefit Optimization
Meanwhile, despite the high priority placed on receiving benefits, most respondents believe they are not optimizing their benefits to their fullest potential.
The findings show that nearly 9 in 10 employed adults (88%) are confident that they understood all the benefits available to them when they accepted their current job. Similarly, 86% are confident they have kept up-to-date with benefit changes and are confident they know where to get information about how to use their benefits. Yet only 28% are very confident they are using their benefits to their fullest extent.
“Despite overestimating the value of their benefits as part of their total compensation, it is concerning that Americans are not taking full advantage of them,” notes Greg Anton, chairman of the AICPA’s National CPA Financial Literacy Commission. “Imagine how employees would react if they were not 100% confident they could get to all the money in their paycheck. Leaving benefits underutilized should be treated the same way,” Anton notes. He suggests that employees need to take time to truly understand their benefits and make sure they are not leaving money on the table.
The Harris Poll was conducted online April 24-26, 2018, among 2,026 U.S. adults age 18 or older, of whom 1,115 identified as being employed full- or part-time.
