Companies worldwide are grappling with a mindset that is here to stay - remote work is not a benefit anymore, but a requirement. More and more companies are adopting the hybrid or fully remote work approach. Now competing with international companies, hiring and retaining the best talent has become even more of a challenge, and benefits are playing a significant part in this.
The good news is that remote workers are open and honest when it comes to what they want and don’t want from a job. Aside from a competitive salary, a number of benefits come out top of the list, including health insurance, co-working access and realistic retirement packages.
Here, we take a look at the results of a recent survey and dive into the most requested remote working benefits.
First; let’s talk about the importance of salary
Before we jump into the details of the top remote-working benefits, we’d like to add a quick caveat: while benefits are becoming increasingly important, they by no means replace a fair yearly wage for remote workers.
Salaries have traditionally always been the motivational force behind applying for, or staying in, a job and it’s no different when it comes to remote workers. Especially when you consider the fact that 75% of all remote workers earn over $65,000, which puts them in the upper echelons of earners around the world, both remote and office-based.
The ever-rising labour shortages and the period of resignation that began in early 2021, means that companies are going out of their way to offer higher salaries to attract the best and brightest talent.
This has led to a more pragmatic approach in the remote working world of combining competitive salaries with popular added benefits. Saying that, when a candidate has multiple offers on the table, all with similar salaries, it is the benefits and company culture that can make or break their decision.
So, what makes different remote companies the best places to work for?
Top trending benefits that remote workers are asking for
Here are some of the most desirable remote benefits that are trending right now, according to the recent survey by Safety Wing:
- Health insurance Health insurance is by no means a novel concept when it comes to workplace benefits. In fact, the majority of top firmsin the US offer health insurance as a minimum when it comes to remuneration packages.
Unfortunately, a distributed team complicates matters for health insurance. Each country has its own rules and regulations, and providing specific health insurance for each employee becomes a complicated and expensive process.
However, it’s still one of the most desirable benefits for digital nomads and remote workers.
Benefits like coworking space stipend and home office budget are great, but if you’re going to invest in one - start with health insurance. It’s the bare minimum employers should be offering to their teams, no matter where they are based. Now that there are simple solutions for covering your entire team, like Remote Health, you can onboard everyone under the same plan, for the same price, wherever their home base is. The product was built by a fully distributed team of remote workers, so the plan also works if your employees don’t have a fixed location. They’re simply covered wherever they are in the world.
Alongside health insurance, there are a number of other health benefits that employees are also asking for, such as:
● Paid maternity leave
● Dental coverage
● Paid sick days
● Sabbaticals.
- Learning and development opportunities Some of the simplest benefits can attract the best talents, and that couldn’t be more true when it comes to learning and development opportunities. Human beings are naturally inquisitive, and having the opportunity to grow and evolve in a professional role is only going to feed this innate desire.
Something as simple as offering paid time-off to join a one-day course or providing a yearly development budget for employees to use to grow in their role, won’t only benefit the employee but the employer too.
Encouraging a constant cycle of learning within teams not only brings a wealth of up-to-date knowledge back to the team but can help employees feel empowered, more engaged and valued in the work placeas well as increase confidence among the team. In fact, learning and development opportunities are proven to improve employee retention and reduce staff turnover rate.
- Pension schemes and retirement plans Another benefit that has a long-standing reputation in the world of non-remote working are pension schemes and retirement plans. These two benefits are now quickly becoming top of the list for many remote workers looking to secure their futures, especially when they plan to stay in remote roles for the foreseeable future.
Saving for retirement by yourself can be challenging, especially if you’re only just starting your career, and have few people to turn to for advice. Securing a pension scheme to pay into can help remote workers save a little as they go, and feel more confident about what their long-term future may look like.
Although facilitating pension plans might be beyond the financial reach of some start-ups, much larger companies can offer this benefit with great effects. The demand for such a pension scheme or retirement plan is high, and the statistics show that remote workers are keen to see more of this.
- Co-working spaces There’s a visible need for a coworking space stipend and a surprising lack of companies offering it as a perk. For start-ups, this is one of the easiest benefits to introduce and has huge benefits for both employees and companies. Providing a coworking space allows remote workers to get out of their homes and into a far more professional environment, something that can increase motivation and productivity.
Co-working spaces can also benefit the well-being of a company in other ways, not only through increased productivity. Having a co-working space that more than one employee can attend goes a long way to bridging the gap between colleagues. Companies can set up a retainer or a specific membership in different coworking spaces around the world, and their team can use this benefit when, and if, they want.
- New-age benefits Crypto, NFTs and investing have been trending in recent years, so it’s no surprise that they’ve found their way into the remote world. While this is more of a prediction rather than something remote workers are currently asking for, it’s a good way to keep your benefits offering unique and exciting.
Remote workers are always looking for more ways to get their money to work for them. While companies have long been offering employees stock options as part of their payment package, cryptocurrency bonuses and ownership of NFTs are becoming popular amongst start-ups and other remote companies.
For example, CodeMonk is running with this idea:
“CodeMonk will be offering all its early talent exclusive NFTs for them to earn by doing various community-building tasks –so-called bounties. We are currently experimenting with bounties but giving out monetary rewards (all bounties are announced on our Discord Server, where we are gathering our community). Additionally, all of our talent working for clients will also receive exclusive NFT for them to deliver excellent customer service. They will be able to hold and sell this NFT at a future date.” - Maulik Sailor, CEO of CodeMonk
Soon, they will launch a digital wallet which will enable their talent to get paid in their exclusive Cryptocurrency. This helps them make low-cost real-time payments for their global talent network.
Why are remote benefits so important?
There’s no argument that the team is the most important resources a company has; without them, a business would undoubtedly fail. Offering a healthy remuneration package, complete with the right balance of benefits, not only helps to retain the best global talent out there but ensures that once they join your organization, they are equipped with the right work-life balance to keep them happy, and motivated and performing at their very best.
While we have outlined some of the top trending benefits in the remote world right now, it’s no surprise that the wants and needs of the flexible workforce are constantly changing, and your benefits package should always strive to offer the best working conditions for your team. Falling behind in this fast-paced world is not an option when you’re hoping to build a gifted, talented and content team of employees.
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