Based on our collective experiences and recent discussions with our clients, we anticipate the following:

Employee expectations will remain high, and employers will still feel the need to have a compelling benefits offering:

• This creates pressure for organisations but a great opportunity to differentiate.
• Flexibility and the possibility to personalise their benefits package will still be expected by employees.
• Candidates will ask more detailed questions and evaluate the benefits offering prior to accepting a new job.

Wellbeing:

• Although the physical, mental, and social dimensions will remain important, we expect more attention to be devoted to financial wellbeing.

Artificial intelligence:

• Organisations are eager to use AI to improve their businesses.
• How can organisations deploy AI effectively in global benefits in the future?
• What opportunities exist right now?

Costs:

• Increased cost pressures will force organisations to act to optimise and control spend.
• Organisations will explore solutions to offer more flexibility while trying to minimise the cost impact as much as possible.

DE&I will continue to forge its way and force organisations to:

• Offer benefits that cover more diverse needs either by starting or continuing their benefits evolution journey.
• Address pay gaps on two fronts: more transparency expected/mandated and more reporting required by legislators and investors.

Operational efficiency and compliance:

• Global organisations will work to maintain strong oversight and reporting as efficiently as possible with limited resources.
• They will try to leverage scale through pooling and other means, to optimise design, finances and governance with a focus on managing small-headcount countries effectively and in line with their global benefits strategy.

Global minimum requirements:

• We expect to see more global organisations adopt a structured approach towards their benefits offering by making sure every location/region respects minimum expected standards in defined areas of benefits. This could encompass DE&I initiatives, parental leave programs, and mental health to name a few.

Communication:

• Organisations will want to make sure employees understand and fully value their benefits.
• A great communication strategy will be required to support a more holistic approach to benefits and wellbeing.

The third edition of the Global Benefits Forecast will be launched in early February. In 2024, we will continue to measure trends, explore new areas, and capture the local versus global initiatives in the benefits offered to employees. We will then be well equipped to check on our assumptions and to share the results to support organisations in refining their benefits strategy for the upcoming years.

Great challenges are ahead. We look forward to sharing our findings throughout 2024!