More than a third (38 per cent) of U.S. employees say benefits are the No. 1 reason they’ve stayed with their current employer, followed by pay (35 per cent) and job security (24 per cent), according to a new survey by Grant Thornton International.
The survey, which polled more than 5,000 full-time employees, also found three-quarters (74 per cent) of respondents said they’re well informed about their employer’s benefits offerings, but fewer than half (48 per cent) said their current benefits are different from what another employer would provide.
In addition, nearly two-thirds (61 per cent) of respondents they’ve experienced burnout in the past year, with more than half (53 per cent) citing mental and emotional stress as the No. 1 cause of burnout, followed by long workdays (42 per cent), workload (42 per cent) and employee shortages (41 per cent). A quarter of employees said their financial well-being (26 per cent) and mental well-being (25 per cent) have declined over the past year, while 21 per cent said their physical well-being has worsened.
Read: Survey finds 39% of women considering quitting job due to stress, burnout
While two-fifths (42 per cent) of respondents said remote working offers improved work-life balance, just 16 per cent said they want to work fully remotely and 15 per cent said they want to work onsite only one or two days per week. By comparison, more than half (51 per cent) of respondents said they’d prefer to work four or five days in the office, up from 33 per cent in 2022.
Despite the increased desire to work onsite, nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) of employees said they’d like to choose when and where they work, while 32 per cent said they want flexible start and stop times and 31 per cent said they’d prefer to work longer hours and fewer days per week.
“Mental and physical well-being concerns are top of mind for employees,” said Angela Nalwa, people and organization practice leader and managing director at Grant Thornton, in a press release. “When an organization embraces a culture of well-being, it translates into employees performing at their highest level.”
Read: Four-day workweek pilot participants benefit from reduced burnout, better mental health