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The UK’s most wanted benefits

By
Fiona Kyle
Published
July 19, 2022

What are the employee benefits that matter most to you? A recent survey shows that employees in different parts of the country have different priorities when it comes to the benefits that appeal to them when they’re searching for a new job.

So what benefits are wanted by the most employees? And how does that match up to the benefits that are actually being offered by employers? A recent survey from business services provider Bionic provides the answer…

The most desired employee benefits

Here’s a run down of the top five benefits that employees voted as their preferred choice:

  1. Flexible working (51.4%)
  2. Birthday off work (30%)
  3. Private healthcare plan (27.6%)
  4. Free office snacks and tea/coffee (25.8%)
  5. Performance bonus (23.7%)

Perhaps not surprisingly, the number one perk desired by employees is flexible working which was voted for by more than half of the 1,000 employees that took part in the survey. An interesting counterpoint to this is that only 10% responded that team days out and social activities were important to them which seems to suggest that regular in person events with colleagues is not as important as it used to be.

Birthdays off work, early finishes and unlimited holiday all featured fairly high up the list, showing how important time away from work is for today’s employees.

Benefits linked to sustainability such as a cycle-to-work scheme did not rate highly (4%) whereas free car parking at the office was much more desired (17%). Mental health is important with 22.2% of respondents voting for support such as free counselling and duvet days.

Which benefits are being offered by UK employers?

So how well do the benefits that UK employees want match up with the ones on offer from employers?

The most popular perk that employers offer is a cycle-to-work scheme but only 4% of employees voted this as their preferred option. The next most offered perk is free office parking which was voted for by 17% of workers.

Flexible working was top of the tree in terms of what workers want and is the fourth highest perk offered by employers. Money is a popular incentive: almost a quarter of respondents said a performance bonus was their number one priority and it is the third most offered benefit.

How does this change around the UK?

Although most regions voted for flexible working as their most wanted benefit, there were some variations. The most desired benefit for workers from the north east of England was unlimited days off, and both the south east and east of England voted for their birthday off work as the number one benefit they would like to get.

Like much of the UK, employees in Scotland voted flexible working into top position but voted ‘pawternity’ (time off to look after your dog) into fourth spot. Workers in the north east of England and Yorkshire and the Humber had dog-friendly offices high up on their list of priorities.

Don’t forget you can add the benefits you’re looking for from your next role in your profile on NexJob. Just head to ‘Me’ in the navigation then tap ‘Rewards & Benefits’.