Daily News Alerts
Joe Hornyak
Former editor of Benefits and Pensions Monitor and founder of Joe Hornyak Communications
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Technology Transforms Landscape
Technology has transformed the employment landscape, says Catherine Bierman, product portfolio manager at Medavie Blue Cross. She told its ‘The Value of Versatility’ session that, for example, 20 years ago the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic could have been greater as the average worker had far less ability to work effectively at home for an extended period. This could have created a very different trajectory of how quickly the virus spread and how many people were infected in the year so before vaccines became widely available, so COVID accelerated the pace of technology adoption for work and in healthcare. And now that the genie is out of the bottle, it's not going back in, she said. The availability of virtual care options for medical care has become increasingly essential to the healthcare system and to modern benefit plans. People know now that it only takes a few clicks of a mouse or few taps on their phone to connect with a doctor, health practitioner, or therapist and it can be at their convenience and from wherever they like. “That’s not something people are going to want to give up whenever the pandemic is, hopefully, soon over.” Employers need to focus on shifts that were taking place before COVID, said Derek Weir, manager, optional benefits, at Medavie Blue Cross. With five generations working side-by-side in the workplace, healthcare needs are varied. For example, spending is dominated by drugs for older workers. For younger workers dollars are going for mental health and massage. Plans are spending as much on massage for young workers as they do on cancer drugs for 60-year-olds. And employees are looking for more choice on how benefits dollars are spent. Since health benefits make up a “significant chunk” of the total rewards package, they are clearly an attraction and retention tool which can make or break deals. Employers should really consider enhancing their value proposition through their benefits plans to set them apart from the competition when they are trying to attract new talent.
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Organizations Offering Higher Salaries
For a second consecutive year, organizations are planning average salary increase budgets of 3.8 per cent (excluding salary freezes) in 2023, a rate higher than historical trends, says Normandin Beaudry. Its ‘12th annual Salary Increase Survey’ says this projection may seem conservative. However, one out of 10 organizations are planning average salary increase budgets above five per cent, in some cases as high as 20 per cent. Darcy Clark, principal, compensation, at Normandin Beaudry, says employers continue to adapt to market pressures. Average salary increases granted in 2022 in Canada reached 3.8 per cent, exceeding the initial projection of 3.4 per cent and 2.8 per cent. Nearly half of Canadian organizations allocated an additional budget of 1.9 per cent on average in 2022, higher than the initial forecast of 1.2 per cent. For 2023, projections reveal that one third of organizations plan to grant an additional budget of 1.4 per cent on average. Organizations that proactively plan for additional budgets will benefit from greater agility throughout the year, such as retaining employees in critical roles, differentiating rewards for high performers, and accelerating the progression of employees in the lower end of their pay range. Only one per cent of the organizations have implemented a salary freeze in 2022 or intend to in 2023, a particularly low number. This can be attributed to the current context, but contrasts with the rates observed in recent years. Uncertainty related to the pandemic had pushed the number of organizations that have implemented a salary freeze in 2021 to eight per cent, when it was typically between three per cent and five per cent before the pandemic. Small organizations, in terms of number of employees, plan on offering higher salary increases than their larger counterparts in 2023. In Canada, organizations with fewer than 50 employees have an average projected budget of 4.5 per cent, followed by companies with 50 to 99 employees (4.1 per cent) and those with 100 to 199 employees (four per cent), excluding salary freezes.
For details on these stories, visit www.bpmmagazine.com