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Employee Benefits Cut in Recession

By Dennis McCafferty on 2010-07-09


As if the pay-cuts and wage-freezes of the past few years have not been hard enough for workers to endure, the grinding recession and its seemingly-endless aftermath also have forced (or enabled) managers to take a hard look at the benefits granted to employees. This new accounting regime is resulting in significant cuts to perks and payouts, including some things to which many workers had become accustomed. IT professionals are seeing everything from health care to bonuses to relocation expenses, along with niceties like hotel mini-bar expenses, scrutinized, reduced, and even eliminated. That’s according to a new survey from the Society for Human Resource Management, the highlights (or lowlights) of which we address in this slideshow. Corporate earnings have recovered nicely since the darkest days of the economic crisis, but corporate spending remains extremely tight; a lack of new business investment has drawn the most scrutiny in a stimulus-hungry market, but cutbacks to existing budgets tell part of that profit story as well.
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72 percent of HR professionals surveyed say benefits at their organizations have been hit by the recession.

28 percent of companies surveyed provide temporary relocation benefits, down from 43 percent in 2006.

Just 3 percent of companies provide rental assistance to employees, down from 22 percent in 2006.

39 percent of companies surveyed provide retirement-planning services, down from 52 percent in 2006.

43 percent of surveyed companies offer health screening programs, down from nearly 50 percent in 2006.

30 percent of companies offer spot bonuses, down from 41 percent in 2006.

24 percent of companies surveyed offer accident insurance, down from 37 percent in 2006.

23 percent of companies surveyed match charitable contributions, down from31 percent in 2006.

12 percent of HR pros report a stock-purchase plan, down from 20 percent in 2006.

24 percent of companies offer paid family leave, down from 32 percent in 2006.

49 percent of HR pros surveyed say their companies offer flex time, down from 57 percent in 2006.

12 percent of companies surveyed pay for dry cleaning on business travel, down from 20 percent in 2006.

9 percent of companies pay for minibar snacks on business travel, down from18 percent in 2006.

79 percent of companies offer holiday parties, down 87 percent from 2006.

68 percent of surveyed companies offer "milestone rewards" to employees, down from 76 percent from 2006.

47 percent of respondents offer non-cash, company-wide performance awards, down from 56 percent in 2006.

25 percent of companies responding allow for a "take your child to work" day, down from 38 percent in 2006.

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