Healthcare staff demand investment into their employee benefits

The high cost of living has left UK workers across all sectors in need of greater financial support. With many factors leading to employers being unable to raise salaries, the importance of providing effective support to boost employee finances through additional means such as reward packages is greater than ever.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the healthcare sector – eight in ten (82%) healthcare workers say that they want more financial support at work, higher than the UK average of 74% across all sectors.

With nine in ten (87%) healthcare employers admitting that they will be unable to raise salaries due to increased employer NI contributions this year, employee benefit packages provide HR leaders with a fantastic opportunity to ensure their business, and the sector more broadly, can attract and retain the best talent – if they get it right.

Diving into workers’ current experiences, Zest commissioned its partners at Opinium to survey 2,000 UK employees and 872 HR decision makers across a variety of sectors. While, for example, financial support is something all employees require, the research aims to uncover further detail what other types of support employees want, what their employers are offering them, and how this, if at all, this differs between lines of work.

Although there’s room for improvement across the board, the healthcare sector is in major need for change, with two-thirds (62%) of workers saying that their current benefits package is inadequate, the highest proportion of any sector surveyed.

Six in ten (62%) healthcare employees admit that they would leave their current job if another company offered better employee benefits and under half (48%) think that their benefits package offers good value for money, lower than the UK average of 59%. Only a quarter (26%) say that their employer listens to their needs and responds through the benefits on offer, whilst 56% admit they don’t use the majority of their benefits.

Perhaps most shockingly, four in ten (38%) healthcare workers say they’d even consider switching to another sector due to the inadequacy of what’s currently on offer.

While healthcare employers recognise the growing importance of reward packages, with nearly all (94%) saying that this is one of the first things candidates ask about in an interview, many are failing to capitalise on the value employee benefits packages possess. Not only does a good benefits package primarily improve support for employees but it also provides a better ROI for businesses.

More clearly needs to be done but what is it exactly that healthcare workers want?

Zest’s research found the most sought-after benefit to be increased pension contributions, with almost half (45%) of workers saying that this is the most important benefit to them (but only 18% of healthcare businesses currently offer this). Private medical insurance and wellbeing allowances are also amongst the most valued benefits for healthcare employees (38% and 30% of ranked these as the most important benefits respectively).

While employers can look at shifting what’s on offer, this will only solve part of the problem. Clear communication and delivery are arguably, if not more important, to ensure that the right benefit reaches the right employee at the right time. For example, currently six in ten (60%) healthcare employees don’t know the exact benefits they have access to, despite all (99%) healthcare employers believing that their employees are aware of the range of benefits available to them.

Part of the solution lies in technology. By adopting the latest tech and automation, businesses can adapt and improve their benefits offering to meet the continually changing and personalised needs of their workforce efficiently. This allows benefits to be a genuine, valuable way for employers to reward their employees beyond salary.

It can also help employers understand what benefits their workers want, value, and need in terms of support, creating a happier, more productive workforce and eliminating the risk of losing talent to competitors and perhaps more importantly in healthcare’s case, other sectors.

These findings from Zest have been conducted by independent research agency Opinium which surveyed 2,000 UK employees weighted to be nationally representative and 872 HR decision makers (minimum 50 respondents per industry) between 1^st – 12^th February 2025.