Employers Say They Offer ‘Modern’ Benefits; Workers See It Differently

Most American employers (86%) think they provide “modern” benefits to their employees. Far fewer employees (59%) would agree with that thought. That considerable difference of opinion is one of the findings of Prudential Financial’s 2025 Benefits & Beyond study, the first installment of which was released on Monday, May 12.

Prudential has conducted the study annually since 2006. This year’s findings and data came after surveying 2,946 full-time U.S. employees and 750 employers in January and February.

The initial research release, titled “New Workforce Expectations: How Evolving Needs Are Reshaping the Workplace,” focuses on workers’ top concerns and how those concerns are addressed (or not) in current employer benefit offerings.

What Are ‘Modern’ Benefits?

In trying to ascertain what constitutes “modern” benefits, the Prudential study stated, “[that] is easy and not so easy at the same time.”

The report noted, “Modern benefits packages include a combination of traditional options such as health insurance and new benefits that cover a wide range of employee needs — including trends like “pawternity” leave and four-day workweeks. But when we asked employers and employees what new, different or more interesting benefits are, the answer wasn’t as clear as some may expect.”

In general, while polled employers considered their benefits package to be modern because they added “newer” benefits (e.g., student loan assistance, assess to mental health professionals such as therapists), participating employees were more likely to affix that label when the package was perceived as wider (the terms “comprehensive,” “more” and “variety” were commonly cited) and easier to understand, navigate and use (“convenient” and “no problems”).

“Employees want benefits that go beyond traditional coverage and more completely address how they live and work,” said Michael Estep, the president of Prudential Group Insurance. “The workplace is at a tipping point, and there’s so much at stake for employers. When benefits are aligned with your company’s values and workforce needs, they become a powerful driver of culture, business performance and long-term growth.”

That level of importance is a key point on which employers and employees can agree. According to the Prudential study, both employers and employees believe “modern” benefits are a must-have to attract and keep talent. The vast majority of surveyed employers (92%) said their employees expect these benefits. Among surveyed employees:

• 91% said having “modern” benefits makes them more likely to be satisfied with their employer (vs. 68% who said they would be satisfied without such benefits).
• 90% said having “modern” benefits makes them more likely to stay with their current employer (vs. 73% who said they would remain with their current employer without such benefits).

Yet, a deeper dive into the research highlights even more differences of opinion.

What Exactly Are Employees Expecting?

The new study showed that for employees, it isn’t just about having a wide range of benefits — it’s also about how benefits help them solve the challenges they face as well as their experience when those benefits are needed and used (note the terms “convenient” and “no problems” from the previous section).

With a backdrop of economic uncertainty, shifting expectations and evolving social norms, today’s employees expect benefits that:

• Help them balance their personal lives and address what happens outside of work. Toward that, employees consider flexible benefits like a four-day workweek (expected by 41% of surveyed workers) and “pawternity” leave (23%) as optimal.
• Mitigate the day-to-day financial stress they face. Employees cited their top challenges as saving for retirement (45%), the cost of everyday goods (44%), the cost of housing (29%) and making it paycheck to paycheck (26%). While 75% of employers believe their benefits help with retirement savings, only 35% believe they help with immediate financial stresses like everyday expenses.
• Address their holistic well-being. While 97% of employers said well-being is a priority and reflected within the benefit offering, only 69% of employees agreed their employers felt this way and reflected that in their benefits. Said Estep, “Effective communication and awareness are needed to better demonstrate commitment to employee well-being and highlight how benefits can meet each person’s unique needs.”

Minding the Expectation Gap

In examining specific benefits as part of a “modern” package, Prudential found significant gaps exist between what employees and employers expect. Toward this, employers were asked what they would:

• Expect as a minimum requirement to make a benefits package modern.
• Offer in designing an optimal modern benefits package for their organization.

In turn, employees were asked what they would:

• Expect an employer to include in their benefits package.
• Include in a benefits package of their own design.

The following table displays benefits where employee expectations solidly exceeded those of employers.

Conversely, this table displays benefits where employer expectations solidly exceeded those of employees.

A passage in the report perhaps best summed up the findings as well as the current state for benefit offerings: “One thing is true: Benefits are more than just a package, and today’s employees expect more.”

Editor’s Note: Additional Content

For more information and resources related to this article, see the pages below, which offer quick access to all WorldatWork content on these topics:

• Employee Benefits
• Total Rewards
• Well-Being