There has always been a gradual shift to employers and insurance carriers prioritizing employee health and wellness. The COVID-19 pandemic and the Great Resignation have both fast-tracked this prioritization. It has called for employers and insurance carriers alike to reevaluate their basic health care plans.

Top employers are quickly changing their pace to implement employee wellness programs. Insurance carriers can partner with leading employers by helping them gain top talent.

What Insurance Carriers Are Looking For

Insurance carriers have always taken pride in the health care benefits and packages they offer their clients. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has made the health industry more competitive and has made carriers broaden their benefits. 

With the market becoming more competitive, insurance carriers are looking for new ways to stand out to employers. Insurance carriers are putting a stronger emphasis on finding top-tier, health conscious employers to partner with. Partnering with innovative employers will also help insurance carriers lead in the industry of this competitive market. To find their ideal clients, insurance carriers will have to consider what both employee and employer are looking for. 

What Employers Are Looking For

In April of 2021, approximately four million employees resigned from their jobs. This phenomenon was named the Great Resignation. The Great Resignation has made employers evaluate what type of employees they need to fill the empty positions. Employers are also finding ways to attract these new employees.

Employers are on a mission to attract and retain top talent so that they remain competitive in their respective industries. To attract top talent, employers are considering higher wages, flexible work hours, and finding ways to encourage a healthy work/life balance. Many companies are checking off each of these boxes with employee wellness programs and benefits.

These benefits often include mental, physical, and financial health resources, along with many other programs that promote stress management. By implementing these wellness programs, employers have also seen an increase in productivity, employee engagement, and positive employee culture.  

What Employees Are Looking For

The employees that resigned during the Great Resignation left their jobs for multiple reasons. A common reason for The Great Resignation was employees feeling unappreciated in their positions. They often wanted higher pay, more recognition, and for employers to reward employees for excellent performance.

As employees search for new opportunities, they are paying closer attention to wellness benefits than they are to competitive pay. Almost 54% of Gen Z and 58% of Millennials claimed that wellness benefits are a strong decision-maker when job hunting. 

Along with this, 61% of employees would choose a lower salary from a company that offered a quality wellness package. Even current employees have attested to staying at their job longer because of the wellness benefits offered. 

What Can Insurance Carriers Do?

As employees are shifting their priorities of job hunting, employers are having to adapt to attract top talent. With this, insurance carriers are having to change their focus to attract employers. Employees, employers, and insurance carriers can all benefit from insurance carriers including wellness benefits in their health care plans. 

The most innovative employers today are implementing wellness programs to make employees feel valued and retain top talent. Employers are building their own wellness programs from scratch by creating their own resources and partnering with wellness companies like Peerfit. 

Peerfit is a wellness company that works with both employers and insurance carriers to offer fitness and wellbeing resources. With Peerfit, employees have access to classes that promote physical and mental wellbeing. With companies like Peerfit, employees gain more benefits through their insurance companies and feel supported by their employers. 

As of now, 40% of employers are trying to implement a wellness program.  Insurance carriers have the capacity to save employers time and resources through including wellness benefits in their packages. 

Insurance carriers have helped employers offer medical coverage. However, wellness benefits can also include access to fitness gyms, stress management counselors, nutrition guides, and more. When insurance companies bake in a wellness program with their basic health care plans, they are appealing to top employers that want to put their employees first.