TheTowers Watson analysis found that, from 1998 to 2008, the value of total retirement benefits provided to new, salaried employees in eight industries declined by 19 percent, from 7.88 percent to 6.36 percent of pay.
Total retirement benefits include DB and DC plans, retiree medical and retiree life insurance plans. The overall decline in total retirement benefits was mostly due to a 53 percent drop in the value of defined benefits, from 4.19 percent of pay in 1998 to 1.99 percent in 2008. DC benefits, meanwhile, increased by 38 percent, from 2.89 percent of pay in 1998 to 3.99 percent in 2008.
"Virtually all employers were under pressure to reduce the cost and risk of their company-sponsored retirement benefits during the years analyzed," said Kevin Wagner, senior retirement consultant at Towers Watson. "However, just how much they changed their programs and what level of support they could provide varied significantly based on industry-specific factors, including talent supply, cost structure and globalization."
