global benefits attitudes survey 2016 highlights

January 2016

© 2016 Willis Towers Watson. All rights reserved.

Results from the 2015/2016 Global Benefits

Attitudes Survey

Overview of key findings

2015/2016 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey

Survey of nearly 30,000 employees in 19 countries

Americas Responses Europe Responses Asia Pacific Responses

Argentina 1,508 France 1,007 Australia 1,006

Brazil 1,004 Germany 2,281 China 2,005

Chile 1,005 Ireland 758 India 2,003

Colombia 1,001 Netherlands 1,006 Japan 2,002

Mexico 1,011 Turkey 1,031 Philippines 1,010

Canada 2,013 United Kingdom 1,895 South Korea 1,000

United States 5,083

For over a decade Willis Towers Watson has surveyed employees about health and retirement.

This survey fielded from June to August 2015 and is the second globally consistent survey. It

includes representative samples at non-governmental employers.

© 2016 Willis Towers Watson. All rights reserved. Proprietary and Confidential. For Willis Towers Watson and Willis Towers Watson client use only. 2

Lessons learned from the survey


Key findings

1. Financial situation improves but long-term financial worries linger

2. Employees feel vulnerable, want security and are willing to pay for it

3. Employees’ issues are multi-faceted: health, financial and engagement

issues tend to cluster

4. The business case: Health and financial issues affect business results

through drag on productivity

5. Barriers: Weak engagement on health and financial issues

is strongly linked to broader work experience

6. The role of the employer: Employees are in favor of employers taking an

active role in their health and in retirement saving, but are less certain on

financial issues. Employers need to build brand permission first.


Lessons from the survey

1. Long-term financial worries linger

A focus on addressing financial security


Sizeable numbers of employees concerned on the level of debt they face

Canada

67%

Latin America

76%

Europe

60%

Asia Pacific

59%

Financial security has become a more important issue for me over

the last two or three years

US

74%

Global 31%

US 36%

Canada 35%

Europe 24%

Latin

America43%

Asia

Pacific26%

I often worry about how

much debt I have

Source: 2015/2016 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey

Sample: All employees. Except US and Canada, full-time employees only.


53

%

34

%

50

%

31

%

47

%

25

%

58

%

39

%

53

%

32

%

54

%

34

%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Lack of confidence in having sufficientretirement resources

25 years into retirement

Lack of confidence in having sufficientretirement resources

15 years into retirement

Global US Canada Europe Latin America Asia Pacific

My generation is likely to

be much worse off in

retirement than my parents’

generation are/were

Note: Percentage agree or strongly agree, not at all confident or not too confident



The long-term outlook is pessimistic …

Half of employees are not confident of having enough resources to afford long

spells in retirement

Global 66%

US 76%

Canada 74%

Europe 76%

Latin

America70%

Asia

Pacific51%

47%

37%

46%

52%

48%

47%

27%

24%

30%

17%

20%

25%

11%

16%

7%

12%

10%

10%

15%

23%

17%

19%

22%

18%

Asia Pacific

Latin America

Europe

Canada

US

Global

Unworried Future worries Current worries Struggling

Financial worries


We define four types of employees according to their financial worries



Unworried Employees are not worried either for the short- or long-term

Future worries Employees experiencing long-term worries only

Current worries Employees experiencing short-term worries only

Struggling Employees worried about both, the short- and long-term

Profile of

employees


Employees desire security and are willing to

pay for it

Lesson 2

A growing focus on retirement security


And employees are looking to their employers for a lead

Canada

65%

Latin America

62%

Europe

52%

Asia Pacific

51%

Retirement security has become a more important issue for me over

the last two or three years

USA

70%


Sample: Members of a retirement plan.

My retirement plan is the primary

way I save for retirement

2013 2015 Change

Global 65% 72% +7

US 74% 79% +5

Canada 55% 59% +4

Latin Am. 66% 67% +1

Europe 54% 67% +13

Asia Pac 62% 70% +8

I would be willing to pay a higher

amount out of my pay each month to

ensure I have a guaranteed

retirement benefit

2013 2015 Change

Global 58% 56% -2

US 62% 63% +1

Canada 65% 65% -1

Latin Am. 66% 69% +3

Europe 45% 53% +8

Asia Pac 56% 50% -6

What rewards do employees want?


A focus on core pay and benefits

Nearly 3-in-10 prefer superior retirement or health benefits to pay and bonus. Almost 3-in-5 would

prefer some alternative to pay and bonus.

42%

42%

37%

44%

38%

42%

24%

23%

29%

25%

22%

23%

7%

11%

9%

3%

6%

5%

28%

24%

25%

28%

35%

30%

Global

US

Canada

Europe

Latin America

Asia Pacific

From the following list, please rank the areas you would choose if offered a choice by your employer.

Percentage top priority.



Pay and

Bonus

Getting larger base pay increases

Getting larger bonus opportunity

Retirement

Getting a more generous contribution to a

retirement plan

Having a guaranteed retirement benefit that

does not alter with financial markets

Health More generous health care plan

Other

Getting more paid time off per year

Having greater opportunity for flexible work-

life arrangements

Having greater opportunities for future career

advancement

Having the option to purchase a wider variety

of benefits Pay and bonus Retirement Health Other

What benefits do employees want?


A focus on ‘traditional’ benefits … but interest in broader products

Average allocation of benefits budget (%)

32%

32%

32%

37%

25%

31%

18%

29%

22%

9%

21%

13%

12%

9%

11%

13%

13%

14%

10%

7%

8%

9%

11%

12%

12%

12%

16%

12%

13%

11%

8%

5%

5%

7%

9%

9%

9%

6%

6%

11%

9%

10%

Global

US

Canada

Europe

Latin America

Asia Pacific



Retirement

plan

Health care

plan

Life and

disability

Financial

protection

Medical

protection

Health and

well-being

Employee

discounts

Retirement and health

Lifestyle benefits

Insurance and income protection

If your employer provided you

with an allowance to spend on

a variety of benefits, where do

you think you would spend

your money?

a) Retirement plan

b) Health care plan

c) Life and disability insurance,

income protection

d) Financial protection (critical

illness insurance, other

insurance)

e) Medical protection (dental and

vision/optical plans)

f) Well-being programs (gym

discounts, healthy eating

courses, onsite services)

g) Employee discounts


Health, financial and engagement issues

tend to cluster … and affect business results

via the drag on productivity

Lesson 3 and 4

Issues employees face tend to cluster


Links between health, stress, and financial worries

Employees who are struggling financially report higher levels of stress.

Employees who are struggling financially tend to be in poorer health.

26%21%

24% 26%23%

30%

50%

41%

49% 47%

32%

59%54%

49%54% 53%

49%

59%

68% 66% 66%72%

50%

73%


Unworried

Future worries

Current worries

Struggling

14%

4%7%

14%

5%

25%29%

11%13%

22%

9%

48%

13%

6%9%

17%

7%

18%

32%

20%16%

34%

15%

52%


Unworried

Future worries

Current worries

Struggling

Financial worries

Financial worries



% High stress

% Poor health

Why does it matter? Business Impact of poor health and stress


Links to absence and productivity

Higher levels of workplace stress results in higher absenteeism.

2.61.9

2.8

1.5

3.8

3.02.92.4 2.6 2.4

4.4

2.8

4.1

3.3

4.1

2.6

6.2

3.8

Global US Canada Latin America Europe Asia Pacific

Workplace stress

Low

Moderate

High

Healthy employees are more engaged.



24% 25%

40%

31%25% 23%

37% 38% 36% 39%33%

39%

50%47% 47%

57%

43%

56%

Global US Canada Latin America Europe Asia Pacific

Poor health

Good health

Very good health

Health status

FTE days lost to absence

% Highly engaged


There is weak engagement on health issues

Lesson 5

Despite strong commitment from employers….


Employees have not connected to employer initiatives

The initiatives offered by my employer have encouraged me to live a healthier lifestyle.

Canada

25%

Latin America

33%

Europe

19%

Asia Pacific

36%

USA

33%


Sample: All employees. Except US and Canada, full-time employees with employer-based health care.

45%

40%

23%

28%

31%

36%

48%

49%

56%

54%

56%

52%

7%

11%

21%

18%

13%

12%

Asia Pacific

Latin America

Europe

Canada

US

Global

Attitude toward employer involvement in health and well-being




We define three employee types

On-boardSupport the role of the employer in encouraging health and their initiatives and are

comfortable with targeted messages

PersuadablePositive to some employer involvement but sceptical about the degree to which the

employer should move beyond

ResistantDo not support the role of employers in health and well-being and are very

uncomfortable with targeted messages

On-board Persuadable Resistant

On-board employees are more likely to participate in activities


Building trust is key to developing on-board employees

Participation in well-being initiatives via employer or health plan


Global 24% 31% 58%

US 17% 30% 60%

Canada 25% 33% 60%

Europe 29% 32% 55%

Latin America 22% 30% 49%

Asia Pacific 26% 31% 58%

I don’t trust my employer to be involved in my health.

32%29%

21%15%

31%38%

19% 17% 16%

9%

25% 24%

15%10% 12% 11%

26% 24%


Resistant workers

are 2x as likely to

have concerns on

their employer

having a role in their

health.

% Agree / Strongly agree



.



What is the role of the employer?

Lesson 6

Employees are on-board to employer intervention


Positive on health and retirement but apprehensive on personal financial matters

Strongly

preferPrefer

Slightly

preferNeutral

Slightly

preferPrefer

Strongly

prefer

RetirementEmployers should actively

encourage employees to save for

retirement

Employers should provide a basic

retirement plan and let employees

do the rest

HealthEmployers should take an active

role in encouraging their

employees to live a healthy

lifestyle

It is not the role of an employer to

encourage their employees to live a

healthy lifestyle

Financial issuesEmployers should take an active

role in encouraging their

employees to better manage their

finances


encourage their employees to better

manage their household finances

Targeted messagesI am comfortable if my employer

sends targeted messages to

employees with financial issues


send targeted information to

employees who are not saving

enough

Americas EuropeAsia Pacific

USA Canada Europe Latin America Asia Pacific

Source: 2015/2016 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey.


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global benefits attitudes survey 2016 highlights

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