75% of employees have a positive outlook on their employment options, while 58% of workers would prefer to negotiate for a robust benefits package than higher salary, reported Randstad
Companies are taking stringent measures to remain sustainable and ride out the recession that has been triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of these steps are focused on job cuts, downsizing, furloughs, and pay reductions. Some are targeted towards redeployment of talent. Surveys have indicated that the mental and financial stress of such measures and even the unforeseen situation of long-term remote working has been immense.
Despite these concerns and challenges, a new survey by Randstad USOpens a new window  shares insights about how job confidence continues to remain high, among the job seekers.Â
The findings from the COVID-19 2020 U.S. Compensation Insights survey were shared by Randstad along with the white paper to share the sentiments of 1,200 workers on compensation, salary negotiation, and job confidence during the coronavirus pandemic. The results shared that despite the economic downturn and uncertainties, the job seekers are displaying signs of confidence. 75% of all workers surveyed agree that they have a positive outlook on their employment options over the next six to 12 months. Pay and compensation remain important for employees, and 80% believe that their compensation is enough to make them continue in their current role for the next 12 months. However, the number of employees who expect a pay rise has reduced by 4 percentage points to 62% as compared to last year.
64% of employees prefer a role with better growth opportunities compared to a position with better compensation but minor growth potential.
The recurring trend of benefits becoming more important is showed through this survey as well, where 58% of the surveyed respondents shared how they would prefer to negotiate for a stronger benefits package than a higher salary.
Karen Fichuk, CEO, Randstad North America and Randstad N.V. Executive board member says, “In early 2020, the U.S. was seeing unprecedented growth and the lowest unemployment rates since World War II. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, our world has been turned upside down. The silver lining is that despite the economic uncertainty, we’re seeing confidence — and resilience — from job seekers. Our survey reveals a willingness from employees to look beyond salary and focus on future growth, which points to a brighter future and stronger workforce.â€
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While organizations might now evaluate how to design and implement more benefits-focused packages, they will need to ensure two things – the balance with the compensation part of the package and high benefits utilization.
1. Managing the balance between compensation and benefits – As data indicates, benefits are becoming more important and being valued by employees. However, the survey indicates that compensation continues to remain crucial to employee engagement. Therefore, a balanced approach to these two categories is needed. What organizations can do is, ensure that since pay raises are highly unlikely and pay cuts might also be rolled out in some cases, employees have access to online tools and virtual financial counseling, which can ease the strain. For some roles, the option of advance pay through tools such as ExpressPayOpens a new window  should also be made available.
2. Tracking benefits utilization – Companies will need to invest in providing a range of new benefits to the employees. However, while these might be necessary to have in the post-pandemic world, tracking their utilization by employees and communicating their value, will remain essential steps for effective implementation. Both these elements are connected since higher levels of benefits communication will lead to more awareness and, thus utilization. For example, Alight Benefits GuidanceOpens a new window  is aimed to help employees with additional support in terms of understanding their benefits or even guidance in choosing what works for them. Most large-scale benefits administration software such as BambooHR, Zenefits, Gusto have analytics and reporting. HR teams will need to use these insights to understand if this is actually adding value to the employees or is simply an additional aspect of compensation but is not being used.
With higher levels of job confidence, employees are looking towards the future and how employers will support them. It is important for organizations to work on aspects that drives this confidence.
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