More than half (59 percent) of respondents to a Mercer survey said their company has not attempted to quantify the effectiveness of the retirement program in terms of attracting and retaining staff.

A bigger than expected fall in weekly U.S. jobless claims Thursday reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will start to reduce its monetary stimulus next month, sending stocks sharply lower and the dollar up.

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits dropped 15,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 320,000, the fewest since October 2007 a sign of dwindling layoffs and steady if modest job growth.