Alison Main, Director at Silicon Valley Employers Forum
As organizations adapt to the changing needs of the workforce, they will need to balance cost management with providing comprehensive benefits while targeting investments in areas that are aligned to the needs of their workforce.
We’ve taken a deeper look at the results from our recent 2024 Global Policies and Practices 2024 survey to see what is top of mind for SVEF members in 2025. SVEF members cite wellbeing, inclusivity, and cost management as the top 3 priorities for 2025 and will also be looking to embed more flexibility and choice into program design.
Here are the key trends in employee benefits that are expected to shape the landscape in 2025:
1. Mental Wellbeing and Emotional Wellness
Mental and emotional health will remain a top priority in employee benefits programs. Members are expanding their mental health offerings beyond traditional employee assistance programs (EAPs) to include resources like therapy, meditation, stress management, lifestyle coaching, and mindfulness tools. The focus will be on removing stigma around mental health and creating a supportive environment for employees to seek help when needed and ensuring a holistic approach overall to wellbeing.
2. Developing Family-Friendly Work Policies
Family-friendly policies are gaining traction, and increasingly we see more and more members are going global in program design, with an emphasis on supporting employees through various life stages. This includes enhanced parental leave, family caregiver leave, fertility treatment coverage, adoption assistance, flexible childcare benefits, elder care, and even including leave for grandparents in their parental leave programs.
3. Financial Health and Wellness
Financial wellbeing is becoming even more of a critical component of the employee benefits offering. Beyond salary and retirement plans, more members are introducing financial literacy programs, emergency savings accounts, student loan repayment assistance, and financial planning tools and education. Providing resources to help employees manage their financial stress will be key to boosting employee engagement and reducing absenteeism.
4. Support DE&I Through Benefit Program Design
DE&I efforts are increasingly embedded into benefit program design. This involves tailoring benefits to meet the needs of diverse populations, addressing gaps in healthcare access, and ensuring that all employees feel supported. This inclusivity is increasingly being extended to language and communication strategies that ensure benefits are accessible to all employees across global locations. Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) play an integral role in policy development and help provide valuable insights into what will resonate with the workforce and promote greater inclusivity.
5. Cost Increases Due to Deferred Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has had long-lasting effects on employee benefits, with many members still seeing increased healthcare costs, mental health support needs, and remote work stipends. These deferred impacts will continue to drive up the costs of benefits programs in the coming years. With a heightened focus on cost control, we envisage that many employers will be balancing offering comprehensive benefits while managing rising costs through strategic planning and cost-effective benefits solutions for the mid-to-long-term period.
6. Flexibility and choice
As employers are asking their Benefits teams to optimize their investments, leading employers are getting ahead by implementing flexible and/or voluntary benefits programs. While staying committed to investing in employees, this enables greater cost containment, introduces the concept of cost-sharing in more traditional employee benefit markets, and helps support the diverse needs of the workforce.
7. Global Minimum Standards and Consistency in Plan Design
For multinational companies, ensuring consistency in benefits across regions is key in many of their benefits, DE&I, and wellbeing strategies. Setting global minimum standards for benefits plans ensures employees, regardless of their location, receive comparable programs and access to resources. Due to restrictions in insurance coverage in some geographies, companies are looking to leverage alternative financing vehicles, such as captives, multinational pooling or ASO/self-insurance models. There is also a growing focus on creating consistent and equitable leave policies across geographies. With an increasingly dispersed and remote workforce across the globe and a desire to deliver more consistent benefits as part of the Employee Value Proposition, members are working to harmonize leave programs, or at a minimum, provide global minimum leave standards to ensure that employees in different locations have access to similar benefits.
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In conclusion, 2025 will continue to see members focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, wellbeing, and heightened efforts to manage cost while delivering meaningful and impactful programs that are relevant for their diverse and globally dispersed workforces.
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