Are you seeing changes to the benefits being offered?

The recruitment industry is difficult right now, with many businesses struggling to attract and retain talent. An effective way to increase this is by offering improved company benefits to candidates.

In an attempt to gain some insight from the market, Amanda Underhill, HR Recruitment Business Manager for our London division, recently ran a poll on LinkedIn asking if people are noticing changes to the benefits being offered for new positions. Here are the results…

Flexible working hours (74%)

The majority (74%) of respondents cited ‘flexible working hours’ as the benefit they are seeing being offered more than any other. As a result of the pandemic, many businesses have continued with their remote-working policies or hybrid approaches.

Following the crisis, many employees were used to working remotely for so long that they did not want to return to an office environment. Remote working allows for enhanced flexibility with childcare, increased cost-effectiveness due to reduced travel costs and reduced time spent in traffic or waiting for public transport.

As a result, flexible working hours has become a highly desirable benefit for candidates when job seeking. If your business does not offer flexible working patterns already, it might be time to implement one to attract and retain talent.

 

Better Holiday Entitlement (11%)

‘Better holiday entitlement’ came in as the second most popular benefit being offered. Many businesses are not paying minimum wage, so why would they be offering statutory holiday entitlement?

Before the pandemic, standard holiday entitlement was 25 days with additional public holidays, so offering 20 or 22 is not competitive. To remain competitive, some businesses are offering up to 30 days along with public holidays to stay at the forefront.

Is your holiday entitlement competitive? If not, it might be an avenue worth going down to attract new talent.

 Higher Pension (8%)

While many people are not utilising their pension yet, it remains an important consideration as professionals move through their careers. Offering higher pension contributions is something more businesses are including as one of their benefits, according to 8% of respondents.

Employers play a crucial role in helping employees maximise their pension pots. At a time when many feel they cannot support their desired lifestyle post-retirement, businesses need to recognise the influence they can have on the wellbeing of their people. Consider this when searching for talent.

 Higher Bonus (8%)

We are entering an economic recession and experiencing a cost of living crisis, incomes are stretched and consumers are being forced to curb expenditure. Such circumstances, professionals are looking for support to make things easier, and some businesses are recognising that.

In the poll, 8% of people noticed that a ‘higher bonus’ is being offered by businesses as one of their company benefits when hiring. The market behaviour makes a more attractive perk for those looking to apply for new roles and can entice candidates.

If you are a hiring manager looking for help when it comes to finding high-calibre individuals for your vacancies, consider offering higher bonus payments as a benefit (if you can afford to).

If ‘increased base salary’ was an option, it would have been interesting to see if flexible working still ranked higher as one of the benefits being offered by businesses given recent economic behaviour. As hiring managers battle through the challenges currently facing the industry, we hope you feel better equipped for your recruitment process and have more tools to utilise when looking to attract and retain high-quality talent into your business. Good luck!