Irish businesses are finding it hard to balance the need to make their benefits as attractive as possible in order to attract and retain staff, with the need to reduce costs amid inflation, new research has found.
Three quarters of firms said competition for talent is now the key influence on their rewards policy, when it comes to benefits for staff.
But this is closely followed by worries about rising costs, which was cited by 61% of respondents to the Benefits Trends Survey conducted by WTW.
"Irish businesses are feeling a high level of conflict around their employee benefits strategy," said Michael Acton, Head of Health and Benefits Consulting at WTW.
"They are finding it difficult to recruit and retain the best talent, so they have to keep their benefits attractive."
"But at the same time inflation is putting a lot of pressure on benefits budgets, and many are looking for savings."
"While employers and employees alike in Ireland are aware of the ongoing challenges and requirements concerning recruitment and retention, interestingly our research is showing a potential misalignment or divergence between the groups."
Mental health is the top employee benefit focus of employers here, cited by just over half, with health benefits the next highest.
Risk and insurance benefits and career development and training were seen by a third as being important.
The priorities of employees were different though, with retirement planning and long-term finances seen as most important by 42%, flexible working arrangements cited by 40% and health benefits by 34%.
Overall, 84% of employers here said they were working harder now to make sure attraction and retention was prioritised.
81% said work engagement was a focus and 65% said productivity was.
The study also found that nearly half of employers here think their current benefits strategy has a low effectiveness rating, with just 22% ranking it as high.
"While there is a high degree of self-awareness among employers regarding their benefits strategy, the fundamental misalignment between them and their employees may become more apparent in the coming years," said Mr Acton.
The survey of 84 firms in Ireland with a collective 70,000 employees also found that the issues that Irish employers are least concerned about include a weak economy, political and regulatory changes and financial market volatility.
