Cost concerns driving shift in employee benefits, survey says
The survey found that 39 per cent of employers in Ireland are 'reallocating spend' in response to rising costs to get more value from spending on benefits such as pensions, health insurance and financial wellbeing programmes.
This drive has led to the number of employers focusing on getting more value from vendors and service providers to rise to 56 per cent, and nearly two-thirds, 61 per cent, of Irish employers regard the increasing cost of benefits as a key business issue.
Orlagh Farrington, the head of health and benefits Ireland at WTW said cost concerns are 'impacting businesses across Ireland' which she said is 'certainly evident' in their approach to the cost and value gained from employee benefits.
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More than half of employers, 56 per cent, are looking to improve the value of their benefits spending or are eyeing a switch to better-value vendors across health, retirement and risk benefits and 15 per cent plan to increase employee contributions to retirement plans.
Ms Farrington said the benefit trends survey shows that employers are seeking to find a balance between 'prudent expenditure with ensuring an offering that can attract and retain talent'.
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Among Irish employers, 61 per cent are aiming to expand benefits choice over the next three years, with the research showing they are 'becoming more aware of purpose and values, and wellbeing, in shaping their benefits packages,' she said.
'For example, in 2025, 27 per cent of businesses would describe their employee benefits as values driven, 29 per cent as employee wellbeing focused, and 44 per cent as market competitive.'
That focus is set to 'evolve', she said, with the results pointing to companies shifting their focus towards benefits driven by values.
The survey suggests that 41 per cent of business said their benefits will focused on value in the next three years, 44 per cent suggested their focus will be on wellbeing and just only 15 per cent said they would focus on market competitiveness.
'Overall, this evolution is one that indicates a strategic focus not only cost but also on future competitiveness,' Ms Farrington said.
Almost half, 46 per cent, of employers in Ireland view mental health benefits as a priority area, the survey suggested. Additionally, 34 per cent of employers prioritise retirement benefits, with 29 per cent and 27 per cent focusing on financial wellbeing benefits and health benefits respectively.
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Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
‘The stress is inhumane': Second Dublin council pauses scheme to buy homes of tenants at risk of homelessness
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Irish Times
5 hours ago
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Does it make sense to hold onto my husband's bank shares and his stockbroker account?
I know that you have done your best to try to explain the misery that befell many of us when the banks were taken over by the Government. But some of us are remedial and still don't quite understand where we now stand. My late husband worked in AIB and had his life's savings in AIB shares. (For safety he diversified into equally 'safe' BOI shares!). I recall that, before the crash, his AIB shares were worth about €450,000. They were held with Goodbody's . I don't know why. My December 2024 statement states that, as of now, I have close to €25,000 invested roughly evenly across the two big banks. READ MORE Last month, I paid an annual charge of €701,61 to Goodbody's (Cumulative Effect of Costs and Charges on Returns), of which €501,61 was in non-Goodbody charges My questions are as follows: Should I close this account with Goodbodys since I have never done – and don't plan to do – any trading. Is there any point in hanging on to these shares in the hope that, when the banks are making millions again, they might feel sorry for those of us who lost everything and offer some kind of compensation? In fairness, AIB continues to pay my widow's pension. Ms J.R. The first rule in making sense of investments is understanding what you are paying for the opportunity of gain. Charges can fundamentally affect your return so it is important to get a proper fix on them. I get the sense you're not too sure why you are paying the amount you are paying Goodbody's to manage this portfolio of shares and cash. I've spoken to Goodbodys who, no more than their rivals, can be difficult o tie down on the question of fees. To their credit, they have suggested you contact them directly so that they can walk you through exactly what the charges are and for what service. As usual, I have not given any of your identifying details to them as I did not have your explicit permission to do so but they tell me they have offered an experienced person on standby to deal with you directly on this matter. I'll pass those details on to you. Charges aside, there are a couple of big issues here. First, should you hold on to the shares and second, should you continue to hold an account with Goodbody's or any other broker? Let's take those in reverse order. You have kind of answered the second question with your assertion that since your husband died and you inherited these shares, you have never done – and do not plan to do – any trading. There is no obligation to hold your shares through a broker although you will need to engage a broker should you ever decide to sell them. These days, shares are 'dematerialised'. This means that any paper share certificates you hold – which used to be the legal proof of ownership – are now worthless. Instead, details of your shareholdings are held in electronic form by the 'registrar', the company that manages the list of shareholders for each of these banks. In this case, a company called Computershare is share registrar for both banks. You can keep track of your shares and any dealings in them by registering with Computershare here for access to their online investor centre. You'll need very basic details – your unique shareholder reference number for each shareholding – which you should be able to find on communications from the companies, or from Goodbody. The key thing here is that you do not need to hold your shares through a stockbroker and, if you are not trading in shares, it makes little sense to be paying annual charges for the privilege – never mind over €700. Based on the current value of your account, as outlined in your query, the Goodbody's annual charge amounts to over 2.75 per cent, which certainly strikes me as very high, especially for an account with no activity. I cannot think of an explanation Goodbody's could provide that would make this a sensible proposition for you. Unless you plan to sell the shares now given you already appear to be paying Goodbody for the service, I would pull the plug on the Goodbody account and keep track of the shares through the Computershare Investor Centre. If you do want to sell later, you can always 'shop the market' to see who will sell them for you at the lowest charge. That brings us to the other issue – should you hold on to these shares at all? As an AIB lifer, it is not entirely surprising – if not exactly sensible – that he invested heavily n the bank's shares. Back then, he may have been able to do so at preferential rates or through some employee share programme. He was correct that it made sense to diversify given the concentration of his investment. I have no idea if he took advice at that time but the notion of diversifying from having all your investments in one bank stock by investing in the State other large listed back was mad even back then. All his eggs were still in the banking basket and we all know what happened there. People like your husband saw their savings effectively go up in smoke. In AIB's case, quite apart from the bank bailout that saw the value of his shareholding crash, he also went through the one for 250 share consolidation in 2015 that knocked a further 75 per cent of the value of his savings. In the case of Bank of Ireland, in 2017, it gave shareholder one new share for every 30 previously held but, of course, it too saw the value of existing investors' shareholdings decimated by the post-crash bailout. 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I'm not a share analyst, nor a qualified financial adviser, so I cannot say what you might expect these shares to do in the future, though it is fair to say that most analysts see some upside for both as the State has now exited their bailout investment despite cuts in European Central Bank interest rates that have padded their profits in recent years. The bigger question is whether you are comfortable with stock market investments in individual shares. Even if you are, it would be advisable to consider proper diversification – something you might discuss with Goodbody when you meet them and before you make any decision to close that account. Whatever you do, I would certainly not bank of either lender offering any compensation to the shareholders it gutted during the crash, now that they are back to earning millions of euro. They may say how sorry they are for what happened – and have done – but they're not that sorry. 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‘Things have gone noticeably downhill': a Dubliner on 30 years living in Germany
Stephen Hurley has been immersed in the German language since the age of five, when he attended St Kilian's German school in south Dublin. He thanks his polyglot father, who finished his academic career as professor of organisational psychology at DCU, for the decision to expose his children to European languages as early as possible. It was to pay off handsomely when Stephen moved to Germany in 1996 to work for the Irish Dairy Board – now rebranded as Ornua . Along the way, Hurley took a bachelor's degree in science at UCD, followed by a master's in food science. He developed a keen interest in marketing rather than science at this time, leading to his first role as a sales rep for Green Isle Foods, when it launched its Goodfellas range of pizzas in the UK market. 'It was a great experience, and exciting, as we were all new to our roles,' he says. 'I had a huge territory in the English midlands. The launch was a big success and within a year we were brand leaders.' 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'If you ask people what Kerrygold is, they will say it is the good butter. It delivers on its promise in that it tastes good and is very spreadable. It's not just a brand.' Butter and dairy spreads remain the main drivers of volume, but cheese is now a significant part of the brand portfolio too. The train service has developed a poor level of punctuality Kerrygold launched at a very advantageous time when the Greens were very strong in Germany, and its brand story of cows reared outside and eating grass, with a very high level of care for the animals, resonated strongly, he says. 'About two in three people in Germany could be described as flexitarians in that they eat less animal products, but better ones. Consumers care what they eat, and they are concerned about the environment, and about how animals are kept and what animals are fed. 'The way of farming in Ireland is very different from the way it is in Germany. Issues of sustainability may have slid away from attention lately because of concerns about wars and global instability, but they remain important factors in people's minds here.' A keen hockey player when he was younger, Hurley joined a club as a way of meeting people when he moved to Germany, through which he met his wife, Sabine. The couple have recently become grandparents. Home is in the city of Krefeld, in north Rhine-Westphalia, northwest of Düsseldorf, a short commute to Ornua's German headquarters. When he moved to Germany, Hurley was impressed with the infrastructure and apparent efficiency compared with Ireland at the time, but the years since have altered this perspective. Long years of austerity policies and underinvestment have seen infrastructure standards decline alongside a decline in education. Ireland is now more advanced than Germany in many ways, he says. 'Germany now has a very poor telephone infrastructure. Most of the bridges crossing the Rhine here are in a state of disrepair. The train service has developed a poor level of punctuality, bureaucracy has exploded and everything is incredibly slow. Things have gone noticeably downhill.' The construction industry is experiencing problems, with employers finding it hard to fill apprenticeship roles, and this is affecting competitiveness. 'Because they have limited numbers of skilled workers and concerns about continuity, builders, plumbers and electricians have got picky and choosy about the work they want to do and prices gone up consequently,' he says. People won't greet each other and will avoid eye contact Germans are inclined to paint things black and look back to better days, but the reality is that things are not that bad. Living standards are very high for most people, and the economy is large and robust, he says. The hope is that the recently installed government will deliver on its ambitious investment promises and improve infrastructure. Hurley says that in his home city, he lives entirely 'within the German cosmos', although he has some Irish friends in Düsseldorf. 'It's very important to speak the language if you want to really become part of German society and to be understood and understand others. I am fluent – which is a great advantage.' Germans have become less formal in recent years, he says, but are still reserved. 'People won't greet each other and will avoid eye contact. In Ireland you can strike up a conversation with a stranger in a bar. That doesn't happen often here.' Contrary to what many people think, however, the Germans do have a sense of humour, he says. 'You can't slag people off here and assume that they will find that funny, but they do have a black sense of humour. Germans famously love punctuality, but the reality is sometimes different. The trains don't always run on time these days, so there's many jokes made about that.'
