Workers Looking to Employers for Financial Planning Help

More employees are turning to their employers for help in long-term financial planning. That is the result of the 6th Annual MetLife Study of Employment Benefit Trends. The survey concludes that workers are more concerned about there long-term retirement and financial planning then ever before.

Those employers that seize this timely opportunity by providing diverse benefits solutions supported by targeted education and communications will be better positioned to retain top talent in a competitive labor market.

The survey was conducted in 2007 with 1,652 interviews of benefits coordinators and 1,380 full-time employees from across the United States. The survey reveals that employers do not realize how important health insurance and retirement benefits are to employee loyalty. 72% of employees identified retirement benefits as very important to employee loyalty while only 41% of employers believed retirement benefits were very important to employee loyalty. 81% of employees found health benefits very important while only 60% of employers believed health coverage was very important to loyalty.

Nearly half of the employees surveyed reported they would be interested in benefits advisors and advice at the workplace compared to around one-third from the last three surveys. Increasingly, financial, benefits, and insurance responsibility is being taken on by the employee with the assistance of the employer. Employees rank salary barely ahead of health benefits with retirement benefits a close third when considering whether to stay with a company. "Corporate culture" - high on the employers' list of factors - was not as important as health benefits.