13 companies that expanded their benefits in 2022

December 14, 2022 5:30 AM

The workforce endured a lot of change throughout 2022, not only impacting where and when employees work, but the kind of benefits they expect from employers, too.

The biggest employer takeaway from this past year is that traditional retention tactics like promotions and compensation won't necessarily keep their employees from leaving their jobs — but investing more in their lives could. According to a 2022 MetLife study, 73% of employees say that a wider benefit offering would keep them at their present employer for longer.

"We are building an experience that is truly centered around what our people have told us they want and need," Kim Jones, U.S. talent strategy and people experience leader at PwC, shared with EBN earlier this year. "They told us it's meaningful relationships, support for flexibility in their workday, a purpose, a sense of belonging and a balanced workload."

Forty percent of employers made changes to their benefit plans this year according to a 2022 survey conducted by research non-profit Integrated Benefits Institute. Forty-two percent added remote work options, 27% added EAP or behavioral health options and 20% added some form of caregiver leave.

"During the pandemic, everything was shut down and people were really fearful," Tracy Allie, senior HR manager for Allstate's Good Life benefits program, recently told EBN. "All of those things coming at our employees over the last couple of years haven't just gone away, so we wanted to continue to look at and invest in care."

In an effort to cater to employees' personal and professional lives, employers including Amazon, Walmart and Cleo revamped their benefits in 2022 so that they better meet the new needs of their workforce. See what they changed and what other companies offer competitive benefits:

Amazon

Amazon grew its existing partnership with cloud-based mentoring platform Chronus, which enables the organization to match mentors and mentees based on career level, location and areas of expertise or learning. Employees can search for colleagues via additional filters like job title, and once matched, receive a plan and resources to help mentors and mentees both reach their goals. The program is available to all employees (including hourly workers) and has grown from 18,800 participants in 2016 to 159,000 employees so far in 2022.

Read more:

Amazon is upskilling its workers via mentoring platform Chronus

Microsoft

In 2017, Microsoft started the Neurodiversity @ Work Employer Roundtable. Today, the group has grown to include over 50 employers committed to neurodivergent hiring efforts. Through this organization, Microsoft developed a job portal for neurodiverse talent, advertising roles that range from STEM-related positions to finance and customer service work across different companies and industries.

Read more:

Why Microsoft is on a mission to lower the unemployment rate for neurodiverse talent

Hilton and Marriott

The hotel chains recently started offering DailyPay's earned wage access (EWA) to its 7,000 combined employees. DailyPay's app shows employees their earnings in real-time; if needed, they can instantly access that money by moving it to a debit or checking account. The company's internal research has shown that employees will stay with a company up to 72% longer if their employer offers EWA.

Read more:

Hilton and Marriott properties embrace on-demand pay to keep workers happy

PwC

PwC invested $2.4 billion in a reimagined employee experience called My+, which allows workers to choose to be fully virtual, hybrid or in-person — no questions asked. PwC also expanded employees' protected time off by implementing weeklong company-wide shutdowns each year in July and December, and doubled the number of free visits with a mental health professional from six to 12 annually, while increasing the reimbursement rate for out-of-network mental healthcare from 70% to 90%.

Read more:

PwC is investing $2.4 billion in flexible work and personalized benefits

JCPenney

JCPenney associates from all departments are now eligible for WeeCare's child care benefits, which include in-home daycares, nannies and babysitters. Employees have access to 24-hour dedicated care managers who can help JCPenney staff match with the best caregivers and providers to meet their specific needs, organize daycare tours and facilitate enrollment for care.

Read more:

JCPenney partners with WeeCare to support its caregivers

Allstate

The company boosted their mental health offerings, partnering with mental health care platform Spring Health. The new program provides employees with six free therapy sessions for themselves or family members, with typical waiting times of just two days, making it easy for employees to get the help they need, when they need it. Employees also have access to an app with meditation exercises and other well-being practices and tools.

Read more:

Why Allstate revamped their mental health benefits more than 2 years into COVID

Walmart

A new program rolled out by Walmart provides Mental Health First Aid training to the company's associates, teaching them how to identify and respond to people who may be experiencing mental health challenges. The four-hour training program is available virtually and in-person at Walmart's Bentonville Home Office.

Read more:

Walmart offers training to help workers extend mental health support

The retailer also partnered with machine-learning intelligence company Health at Scale to provide personalized provider recommendations to Walmart associates and their families. The platform utilizes AI and machine learning to analyze a user's health factors and find the best provider fit. The service currently covers 25 different specialties, as well as 34 procedures and imaging.

Read more:

Walmart is making it easy for employees to get healthcare referrals

MetLife

Caregiving benefit provider Family First recently partnered with MetLife Legal Plans to provide comprehensive support for employees navigating the challenges of caring for a loved one. Through this collaboration, MetLife Legal Plans enrollees and their families have access to Expert Care Teams of professionally accredited nurses, physicians, social workers and mental health professionals, as well as a resource library.

Read more:

MetLife partners with Family First to bring expanded caregiving benefits to employees

Cleo

Cleo recently expanded its offerings to include a neurodiversity program, available to its own employees as well as its client base. The new program provides support, education and care coordination for parents of neurodivergent children. Parents and caregivers are partnered with a trained guide, many of whom already have experience in special education and early intervention. Guides work with parents to learn their needs, walk them through the steps to getting a diagnosis, and then help them find support and accommodations, be it at school, through provider referrals or other needed resources.

Read more:

Cleo expands its benefit platform to support parents of neurodivergent children

Cleo also expanded their employee benefits to cover teenage beneficiaries, too, with a new benefit called Cleo Teens. The platform now provides mental health resources, sexual health education, academic assistance, social development and gender identity exploration, as well as a real person guide that parents have access to 27/7.

Read more:

Decoding your teen: Cleo offers a playbook for working parents

EY

EY wanted to help their employees' children get a headstart on their financial wellness goals with their second annual financial education summer camp. Kids had an opportunity to engage in 16 online webinars about financial literacy, learning about topics like banking, navigating financial advice on social media, beginners' stock investing and more.

Read more:

EY launches financial literacy summer camp for employees' kids

John Hancock

John Hancock is supporting their own team through a partnership with Access Hope, an employee benefit that connects people in treatment for cancer with specialists at National Cancer Institutes, regardless of geographic barriers. The partnership with Access Hope offers employees the expertise of providers at National Cancer Institutes, without the need to travel hundreds of miles from where they live and work in some cases.

Read more:

Access to best-in-class cancer care is now a benefit for John Hancock employees

Kimpton Hotels

The hotel chain partnered with Talkspace to offer its 4,000 employees a year of free therapy services through the platform. Not only will employees be able to reach out for support, the partnership extends to the hotel's guests, too: Kimpton and Talkspace offered 1,000 complimentary video sessions for guests staying at Kimpton properties, as well as a $100 discount to Talkspace plans through all of 2022.

Read more:

Kimpton and Talkspace bring mental health benefits to hospitality workers and hotel guests

Haleon

Earlier this year Haleon parted with GSK, a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company. On its first day as an independent company, Haleon implemented a 26-week paid parental leave policy for all parents, regardless of gender or sexuality, and regardless of whether they are welcoming a child through birth, surrogacy or adoption.

Read more:

Haleon is giving workers 26 weeks of paid parental leave