Survey says!...Benefit priorities are changing

As employers plan their 2025 benefits strategy, attracting and retaining talent and managing costs will both continue to be factors. The rise in healthcare costs means health plan sponsors will need to optimize their benefits plans to continue to be able to invest in attraction and retention. 

Over the last several years, the job market has been increasingly competitive and a key challenge facing many employers was how to attract and retain talent. To do so, many employers offered more attractive benefits packages to their people.

In the last year, the gap has narrowed between plan sponsors that rank attracting and retaining talent as the top priority in making benefits decisions and those who rank reducing costs as the top priority. Broad economic factors, including healthcare costs, inflation, global economic uncertainty have shifted employers’ focus. And healthcare cost is expected to rise again next year, under current market conditions, at an average rate of 6 to 8%.  

The 2024 Lockton National Benefits Survey data shows that while attracting and retaining talent is still highly important for plan sponsors, many employers indicated a competing priority — optimizing the cost of their benefits plan.

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​The 2024 Lockton National Benefits Survey features responses from 1,611 employers across the U.S. The employers represent a variety of industries, group sizes and ownership structures. Their responses reflect their different philosophies on how to attract and retain talent while managing the cost of their health and welfare benefits. 

Here is the Insights Report