Changing benefits priorities highlight growing focus on employees

More than half of employers (53%) say employee health and well-being is their top priority for 2021. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Two-thirds of employers made changes to their benefits strategy as a result of the pandemic, according to a survey released Monday by Ease, indicating a greater focus on employees’ needs.

Related: The workforce ecosystem: Re-imagining employers’ relationship with workers

Ease, an HR software provider, surveyed almost 650 HR leaders at companies with 500 or fewer employees. It identified ways that benefits brokers can better serve employers in 2021.

“Tracking how sentiments around health benefits are changing is critical to understanding the needs of policyholders,” David Reid, CEO and co-founder of Ease, said in a statement. “The pandemic has uprooted workplace norms, increased health care costs, and decreased the mental and physical well-being of employees. Our survey findings give greater insight into what executives and HR leaders are looking to prioritize in terms of employee benefits, how those have shifted, and what insurance brokers and agencies need to do more of in order to earn and retain business.”