How employee benefits will change for good in 2022

As a surge of new companies innovates with consumer-centric offerings, traditional insurance companies are accelerating digital transformation efforts to keep pace(Image: Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.com)

Today, our professional and personal lives have become more interconnected than ever before. In addition to dramatic changes to how millions of people live and work, the past two years have tested nearly every shared system we rely on–we’ve all felt the impact on the supply chain and health care systems, for example–as well as exposed cracks that underscore the need for long-overdue upgrades.

Employer benefits are no exception. Even as we see greater emphasis on benefits to attract and support workers in an increasingly competitive labor market, traditional benefits models struggle to keep up with the evolving needs of the workforce. People are frustrated with insurance plans that seem to cost more every year while covering less. The rise of distributed work highlights the inadequacies of regional provider networks. And with more variation in how people work–-whether remotely, freelance, or via gig work-–relying entirely on one company for benefits is restrictive. The future lies instead in frictionless benefits: flexible, relevant benefits that are easy to understand and easy to use.