While 70 percent of employed adults overall aremore interested in long-term benefits, 29 percent say they aren'ttaking full advantage of them. (Photo: Shutterstock)

It shouldn't be surprising to hear that adults look forlong-term, rather than short-term, employee benefits but what mightbe surprising is that even those workers aren't taking fulladvantage of what they have.

That's among the findings of the Ernst & Young Better You survey, which also reveals that 67percent of employed Gen Z and 76 percent of college students preferlong-term benefits than immediately available offerings likepersonal fitness memberships. That's onlyslightly fewer than boomers, 78 percent of whom would rather havelong-term benefits, even in the later years of their careers.

Related: Are employees focusing on the wrongbenefits?

Incidentally, while 70 percent of employed adults overall aremore interested in long-term benefits than in short-term, 29percent say they aren't taking full advantage of them—with 37percent saying they're not sure they even understand them all. And understandingaside, 36 percent of female respondents who aren't taking fulladvantage of the package their companies offer say it's becausewhat's on offer doesn't meet their needs.

Whether they're employed adults or college students, people aretaking mental health days—with 40 percent of theemployed having done so (even though 29 percent say they don't useall their paid time off) and 56 percent of college students havingbailed from classes. Interestingly, 67 percent of female collegestudents have availed themselves of mental health days, comparedwith 46 percent of male college students.

Younger workers in particular are not just concerned with healthbenefits—47 percent of employed Gen Z workers value generous healthcare benefits even over a competitive salary—but also want suchthings as mental health and mindfulness in the workplace. Inaddition, one notable expectation among nearly 20 percent ofyounger workers is mental health/addiction support as a workplacebenefit that matters most.

"As mental health and mindfulness continue to take the workplaceby storm, ensuring that benefits are constantly evolving to meetthe needs of employees is key to recruiting and retaining toptalent," says Wendy Edgar, EY Americas Director of Human Resources."It is now more important than ever to foster a flexible workenvironment that is attuned to the needs of individuals fromdifferent generations and backgrounds."

Read more: 

• Data analytics offers a peek behind the curtain inemployee benefits plans
• Still a lot of work to do on employers' mentalhealth offerings
• Boomers need benefits, too: What you need toconsider