How 6 key trends are driving the employee benefits landscape

Interesting report on trends shaping the design and delivery of employee benefits for the Workplace Benefits Summit.
By Melissa Winn, Employee Benefit Advisor
Emerging trends in the health care insurance and benefits landscape threaten to have a lasting impact on the way employers provide and administer employee benefit packages. Benefit advisers hoping to not only remain relevant to their clients, but to thrive during this time of adversity, will need to adjust to the changes ahead, according to Rick Lindquist, president of Zane Benefits.
He told attendees of the Workplace Benefits Summit that his company is focusing product development on 6 key trends in the industry today.

• First and foremost is a sharp rise in the cost of employer contributions for health care insurance.
  (This trend is driving employers to seek ways to fix the cost of offering benefits so they can sustain them.)
• Second, employee costs are also rising, and rising faster than wages, causing dissatisfaction.
• The third trend is shifting more financial responsibility for benefits to consumers.
• The fourth trend is the increased use of consumer technology, a trend which actually aids employers and advisers in shifting more responsibility to individuals.
• Trend number five is the decrease in unemployment rates, will increase importance on employers’ compensation and benefit packages.
• Last, millennials are entering the workforce in droves and will comprise the majority of the workforce by 2025. Millennials want to own their own way when it comes to benefit selection. They demand to operate at their own convenience.

The four characteristics of modern benefit offerings, Lindquist said, include:

1. They are technology-driven, including through the use of a mobile experience and a Facebook like interface
2. They offer maximum choice and convenience
3. They are employer-funded, employee-owned
4. They offer a better value than cash

For advisers these trends mean they must be able to deliver direct to consumer employee services, or broker a third party service.