THE RISE OF

SOFT BENEFITS
A MarketPoint Infographic

What Are Soft Benets?

Any set of workforce benefits other than pay (base, bonuses,
commissions, etc.), health and dental insurance, life insurance,
retirement plans, sick time, and paid vacation. Soft benefits
may be taxable or non-taxable, tangible or intangible, financial
or non-financial.

Why are Employees Attracted to Soft Benefits?

They recognize employees'
contributions in non-financial ways

They change perception of the culture or

feel of the organization

They improve the employees quality of life

10

They eliminate an obstacle to employment

MOST COMMON
Standard Benets
and Their Adoption Rates 1

98% 95% 95% 83% 83% 86% 96% 59% 54% 50%
offer some
type of health
care coverage

offer dental
insurance

offer
prescription
drug coverage

offer companypaid group

life insurance

offer
vision
insurance

provide paid
holidays

provide 6 to 20
vacation days
per year

offer undergraduate
educational
assistance

offer service
anniversary
awards

offer graduate
educational
assistance

Seven Most Common Fringe Benets 1

90% offer

on-site parking

of telecommuting

anniversary awards

company picnics

development benefits

59% offer some form

59% offer service

60% offer

82% offer professional

54% offer undergraduate

educational assistance

50%

offer graduate
educational assistance

Other Perks Commonly Offered by Major

Corporations to Attract Top Talent 2

compressed work weeks

paid time off for volunteer work

discounted gym memberships

on-site fitness centers

on-site medical care facilities

100% health coverage

same-sex benefits

tuition reimbursement

insurance for part-time employees

paid sabbaticals

telecommuting

job sharing

on-site childcare

Benefits Found at Fortunes 2012 Best Companies to Work for 3

Atlantic Health
offers acupressure
services in its
on-site mind-body
centers

Mashable allows
employees to take
their dogs to the
office

GoDaddy puts money toward

off-site employee
activitiesheld during work
hoursto boost team morale

Salesforce allows
each employee six
paid days a year for
charitable work

Intel moves people to

new positions every
18 to 24 months to
encourage them to
explore new fields

Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants

holds a Housekeeping
Olympics, including
blindfolded bed making and
the vacuum dash

Ultimate Softwares health

insurance plan has no
premiums, and there is
coverage for all dependents

Tech Company Benets That Seem Out-of-Control! 4

(here are a few examples)

Airbnb employees
receive $2,000 every
year to travel anywhere
in the world

Ask.com employees

have no vacation
policy because
vacation is not tracked

employees set their

own working hours

Automattic

Dropbox employees
receive free meals and
snacks and celebrate
Whiskey Fridays

Yammer employees

Facebook employees

have a fully stocked

kitchen (with free
beer) and get
cupcakes on
Valentines Day

get four months paid

parental leave, reimbursement for daycare and
adoption fees, and $4,000
baby cash, per child

Google employees

receive free oil

changes, car washes,
dry cleaning,
massages, hair styling
and bike repair

Zynga employees
play Nintendo, arcade
games, Xbox 360 and
PS3, and hold a
monthly poker
tournament

StumbleUpon

Twitter employees

Eventbrite employees

Apple employees get

employees enjoy onsite

massage sessions

may participate in
weekly in-office yoga
and pilates classes

are encouraged to leave

the office anytime and
get to play with Legos

free trips to the Apple

store

Is Your Organization Listening to Employees?

75% 59% 40%

of organizations reviewed
their benefits programs
annually 1

of employees now say flexible

scheduling (determine ones own
schedule) is important 5

of companies now offer some

form of flexible benefits, with a
further 12% looking into it 2

4 out of 5

UnitedHealth Group employees who were allowed to volunteer during work time said they
feel better about their employer 6

1 Staff. Employee Benefits: An Overview of Employee Benefits Offerings in the U.S. Society for Human Resource Management.
Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/Research/SurveyFindings/Documents/14-0301%20Beneftis_Report_TEXT_FNL.pdf
2 HRMA/BC. Flexible Benefits to Drive Employee Engagement? HRVoice.org.
Retrieved from http://www.hrvoice.org/flexible-benefits-to-drive-employee-engagement/
3 Van Camp, S. Theres Nothing Like Soft Benefits to Keep and Attract Top Talent. PRNews.
Retrieved from: http://www.prnewsonline.com/featured/2012/10/01/theres-nothing-like-soft-benefits-to-keep-and-attract-top-talent/
4 Messieh, N. (9 April 2012) 12 Tech Companies That Offer Their Employees the Coolest Perks. TNW News.
Retrieved from http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/04/09/12-startups-that-offer-their-employees-the-coolest-perks/
5 Spors, K. (2015). 7 Cheap and Easy Perks Your Employees Will Love You For. Small Biz Ahead, The Hartford.
Retrieved from http://sba.thehartford.com/managing-employees/7-cheap-and-easy-perks-your-employees-will-love-you-for
6 Vozza, S. (2014, March 11). Why Every Company Should Pay Employees to Volunteer. FastCompany.com.
Retrieved from http://www.fastcompany.com/3027465/dialed/why-every-company-should-pay-employees-to-volunteer
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