Hiring remotely is the new wave. Approximately half of the workforce prefers remote work to on-premise work. The flexibility introduced by going remote has become essential for both professionals and employers. However, even with increased accessibility, businesses are still competing for the best talent in a short labor market.
When a professional is considering several remote roles of similar work, salary, and appealing company cultures, what is the decider? It comes down to benefits. Professionals today are acutely aware that benefits are not just employment perks – they can define your lifestyle. Benefits are a powerful way to bring in remote hires and to keep the remote team you have. Which are the most popular remote employee perks?
Here are the top seven remote work benefits of 2022.
1. Build Your Own Healthcare
Healthcare is no longer a one-size-fits-all benefit. Most people now know that there are aspects of healthcare they will or will not need. A single professional with 20/20 eyesight may not need vision, but a parent with children will want additional family coverage. Professionals today can also handle the idea of trading benefits at a value-level to create the employment package that would provide them the most real-world benefit in everyday life and potential emergencies.
Healthcare program providers are responding to this desire for more policy flexibility and employers today can find Build-your-own health package options.
2. Learning & Development
Gone are the days of toiling in the same job for years without promotion and the days of endless job-hopping. Professionals today want to find an employer they love and can grow with. To do that, they need access to learning materials and opportunities. Professional development means building skills and moving up the career ladder inside the company structure. Offering an accessible self-directed learning & development platform is now a considerable remote work perk.
3. Home Office Tech and Gear
With so many people setting up home offices or looking to improve their at-home ergonomics, office gear is a big perk this year. During the pandemic, employers went above and beyond the company laptop, providing stipends for desks, chairs, video streaming kits, and other home office essentials. Brands today are standing out with cool office kits, tech, and programs to help employees improve their home office setups.
4. Lifestyle Wellness Perks
What about wellness perks? These perks were becoming a hot topic before the remote work migration, but they used to focus on the workplace. Catered lunches and an in-building gym are less useful to your remote employees, but these lifestyle perks that improve the daily health and happiness of your team are still valuable. We just need to take these perks closer to home. A national gym partner or reimbursed gym membership fees are one example, so is membership to digital resources like online fitness classes, counseling and telehealth, grocery or meal plan perks, monthly wellness boxes, and more creative solutions are taking center stage.
5. Adaptive Accessibility
Remote work has unlocked a great deal of accessibility for both professionals and employers. People with physical disabilities can build their ideal accommodations in their home office and telecommute to once-inaccessible jobs. Those needed to provide care at home can also develop their careers through the home computer. Even those with mental and emotional disabilities can take on full-time work with the right software, team, and workflow.
Enhance this adaptability with even more accessible perks and benefits. Build support systems and choose disability-friendly software to make your remote roles more accessible.
6. Food, Meals, and Grocery Subsidies
Food has always been a popular employee perk. In the office, you can provide delicious and healthy catered lunches, share party trays from your favorite restaurants or split a dessert with the team. With a remote workforce, you’ll need to get more creative with your food perks. Meal plan boxes are very big right now, sending high-end ingredients and recipe cards a few times a month. You can send gift basket snack-packs of healthy and tasty office snacks, or sponsor memberships to local food delivery apps. Be flexible, not all food perks will work for employees in all locations.
7. Entire-Family Benefits
Let’s not forget the importance of family. Benefits for the whole family are a rising trend as professionals seek to find that perfect work-life balance. We’re not just talking about putting the spouse and kids on the insurance policy. Think family picnics and summer programs, only remote. Find ways to offer perks that benefit everyone in the household, and consider the new shape of households including ‘fam’ roommate groups, unmarried life partners, and children who might not be directly related yet under the care of your team members.
What are the hottest remote employee perks for 2022? Contact us to find out more.
