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August 20, 2012 at 09:57 AM
Young employees are more interested in worksite-based financial education topics and voluntary benefits than are their boomer counterparts, according to new research.
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, New York, published this finding in a study summarized in “Are You Listening? What Small Business Employees Want from Their Benefits, and How Employers Can Show They’ve Heard.” The 10th Annual MetLife Study of Employee Benefits Trends consists of two studies fielded by GfK Custom Research North America: an employer survey comprised 1,519 interviews with benefits decision-makers at companies with staff sizes of at least two employees; and an employee survey comprising 1,412 interviews with full-time employees age 21 and over, at companies with a minimum of two employees.
When asked about their interest in various financial topics and forum, more young workers than boomers chose online tools (66% versus 52%), a financial advisor sponsored by my employer (59% versus 41%) and financial planning/retirement webinars via the Internet (53% versus 40%). MetLife also observed a gap between the two groups in respect to financial planning/retirement in-person seminars (50% versus 38%) and advice and guidance from an expert via telephone (42% versus 31%).
More than 7 in 10 young workers say they want a greater variety of benefits to choose from (74%), more personalized benefits geared to different employee circumstances (72%) and more personalized benefits geared toward different age groups (71%). These figures compare with 64%, 64% and 66%, respectively, of boomers.
