Want to enhance your benefits package to entice your top performers to hang around and lure new talent to your team? Offer them a half day’s work on Friday — it’s by far the No. 1 perk desired by employees.

This, at least, is what several thousand respondents to a CareerBuilder survey said. Constantly on the prowl for more information on job seekers, CareerBuilder learned that 21 percent of those surveyed have resolved to land a new job in 2016, up from 16 percent in last year’s survey. So what are these folks looking for in a new employer?

Some of the qualities employees on the hunt value can’t be changed on short notice. The five most important characteristics in a new employer — all of which outranked salary — were as follows:

Job stability: 65 percent
Affordable benefits: 59 percent
Location: 56 percent
Good boss: 51 percent
Good work culture: 46 percent

But when asked what perks would sway their decision to either accept or reject a job offer, the list included benefits that almost any employer could offer. The top five:

Half-day Fridays: 38 percent
On-site fitness center: 23 percent
Daily catered lunches: 22 percent
Massages: 18 percent
Being able to wear jeans: 16 percent

CareerBuilder also asked respondents what other New Year’s resolutions they’d made for 2016. The top five revealed that more money and better health were their top concerns:

Save more of my pay: 38 percent (vs. 42 percent last year)
Be less stressed: 28 percent (vs. 34 percent last year)
Get a raise or promotion: 26 percent (vs. 26 percent last year)
Eat healthier at work: 19 percent (vs. 25 percent last year)
Learn something new (take more courses, training, seminars): 17 percent (vs. 22 percent last year)

The goals were similar to those set last year at this time. Here’s how they did with regard to their promises to themselves:

Eat healthier at work: 13 percent
Be less stressed: 12 percent
Save more of my pay: 11 percent
Learn something new (take more courses, training, seminars): 9 percent
Perform better on the job: 8 percent

Instant Insights /

Will 4.5 days be the new work week?

More From HR Executive

Related Stories

Recommended For You