“Employers are grappling with workforce issues ranging from attracting and retaining talent to productivity, flexibility, and return-to-work policies,” Catherine Collinson, CEO and president of Transamerica Institute and its Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (TCRS), says in a statement.

Collinson continues, “In today’s rapidly evolving environment, many are reevaluating their business practices and benefit offerings, but the question is whether they are in sync with employees’ needs.”

The survey – Stepping Into the Future: Employers, Workers, and the Multigenerational Workforce –  evaluates responses from more than 1,800 for-profit employers in the U.S. and more than 5,700 workers.

Highlights include:

• Among employers, 69% cite one or more concerns about workforce-related issues and 61% reexamined their benefit offerings last year.
• In 2022, 70% of employers implemented one or more beneficial measures for their employees, while 46% implemented cost-cutting measures.
• The most often cited beneficial measures include increased salaries/wages (33%), increased bonuses (27%), implemented/enhanced employee work-life balance programs (25%), and implemented/enhanced health care benefits (24%).
• Four in 10 employers note varying degrees of difficulty recruiting new employees.
• Most employers feel very or somewhat responsible for helping their employees with various aspects of their health and financial well-being.
• More than nine in 10 employers (96%) believe they are supporting their employees achieve work-life balance while fewer workers (75%) indicate their employers are helpful in supporting them achieve work-life balance.
• Most workers have a positive outlook on life, including being generally happy (84%) and having a strong sense of purpose in life (79%). However, a number of workers are experiencing distress, including often feeling unmotivated and overwhelmed (43%) and having trouble making ends meet (43%).

“Employers have an opportunity to increase their understanding of employees’ needs,” says Collinson – noting the survey reveals gaps between what employer offerings and worker perspectives.

She adds, “Employers play a vital societal role by providing employment, employee benefits, supportive business practices, and the ability for workers to save and invest for retirement.”

“By stepping up and seeking out beneficial ways to further support their employees, employers could improve outcomes for current and future members of the workforce. By doing so, they could also improve outcomes for themselves in terms of innovation, productivity, and competitiveness in the marketplace.”

Read more details of the survey here.