Only one out of ten employees do not care about employee benefits –The value of benefits is still viewed differently by employers and employees.

A comprehensive study covering, Finland and Sweden, was set to map the views of the employers and employees on benefits and their values when having to make hard choices. The study was conducted in April and May 2023 from various sources of qualified comparable answer samples.

The target countries are unified by the fact that only one out of ten employees find employee benefits to be irrelevant or not interesting. Well over half of the respondents find them to be important. Even four out five would consider changing their job (with the same role & fixed salary) if the set of benefits with the new employer were clearly better.

”The results are quite eye-opening. Once a certain level of income is reached, convenience and other rewarding play a significant role when choosing a job”, says professor Pekka Mattila from Aalto University.

According to the survey results, the employers and employees view benefits and their value in a very different way. In Finland, only half of the employees are satisfied with their benefits, when 70 % of the employers feel their offered benefit package is on a good level. In Sweden, less than half of employees are satisfied with their benefits. 60 % of the employers feel the same way.

What unifies the two countries, is the employees’ overall awareness of their benefits compared to what the employers expect. The employers in Finland anticipate a 7 % increase in employee benefits from 2023 to 2024. In Sweden the increase is expected to be even 9,5 %. This result surely affected by the high inflation rate in 2022 and 2023.

The way employees and employers in Finland feel their organizations are supporting the physical well-being of their staff, is contradicting significantly: 88 % positive by employers but only 43 % by employees. In Sweden the same gap is 82 % against 48 %

Additionally, in Finland, the organizations’ support for mental well-being is contradicting drastically: 77 % positive views by employers and 30 % by employees. In Sweden the same gap is 80 % against 39 %.

“The employers have reacted during and after the pandemic by raising their emploee benefits. There is a strong will to raise them even more to match the current cost of living, but the legislation does not allow it. For example, the maximum yearly tax value of 400 € for sports & culture benefit was set back in 2014. This amount will not cover most of the activity fees today. It is time for the government to also keep up with time and revise the tax values to match this decade”, says Niklas Löfgren, the CEO of Epassi Finland.

85 % of the employers both in Finland and in Sweden believe they are sufficiently supporting their employees’ physical exercise. In Sweden less than three out of four employees feel the same way. Only 37 % of employees in Finland agree with the employers.

The comprehensive study in Finland and Sweden covered almost 1 200 employees and 2 800 employers in key decision-making positions from organizations employing more than 50 people. The study, enabled by Epassi, was conducted by a researcher team from Aalto University, led by professor Pekka Mattila and postdoctoral researcher Juho-Petteri Huhtala.

Contacts:
Professor Pekka Mattila, pekka.mattila@aalto.fi, 040 738 7221
CEO Finland Niklas Löfgren, niklas.lofgren@epassi.com, 044 546 5482

About Epassi 

Epassi, founded in 2007 in Helsinki, is a market leader in employee benefits within the Nordics. The unique and scalable solution drives mobile tech and payment solutions to open-up a world of health and well-being possibilities, combining all benefits in one user-friendly service.

Epassi Group is Europe’s leading digital solution for employee benefits, with a reach of nearly 13 million users, over 13 500 employers, and more than 59 000 service providers. Epassi is a trailblazer fintech company in the Nordic countries and has been awarded by the Financial Times as one of the fastest growing companies in Europe in 2022 and 2023.

Epassi – Boosting everyday well-being. 
www.epassi.fi