The Irish benefits market is defined by affordability, finds Morgan McKinley
Research shows that younger cohorts often find the path to greater career gains less accessible than their older peers.
Global talent agency Morgan McKinley today launched the program Ireland 2026 Benefits Guidewhich is a comprehensive national survey of how benefits are provided by employers, and how they are felt and valued by employees across the Irish labor market.
Data collection Morgan McKinley collected data from 1,222 employees, in over 32 sectors, in organizations spread across Ireland. What was found was that while benefits are generally expected and technically available, there are accessibility issues, raising questions about visibility, trust and awareness.
Mutually beneficial?
Minority groups in particular were found to have the least access to pension or health schemes, despite 90 per cent of respondents reporting being enrolled in an employer-sponsored pension scheme. The report said, “This points to a benefits model that remains too strong for older workers, rather than always supporting talent from the earliest stages of employment.”
More than 75pc of the Baby Boomer generation say they have access to a pension plan, as do 77pc of GenX and 72pc of Millennials, compared to just 54pc of GenZ.
The report said, “While this pattern may in part reflect differences in tenure and contract stability, for example temporary versus permanent roles, it may also be influenced by eligibility criteria or employer-related structures that delay the registration of young or early-career workers.”
“For certain organizations, minimum service requirements or authorized contribution thresholds can act as a barrier, preventing young workers from taking full advantage of pension benefits while they are still working.”
Chances are hybrid activity it was also shown to be more evenly distributed among the workforce with those in the GenX (63pc) and Millennial (62pc) categories reporting higher availability, than their younger GenZ peers (49pc).
“These differences suggest that access to hybrid performance may vary by role or level in organizations, with younger workers less likely to report receiving these benefits. at the organizational level, there may not be equality for all groups of workers.”
Bonuses and incentive schemes also highlighted differences in access to benefits between certain age demographics. For those in the middle of their careers, GenX (63pc) and Millennials (64pc), the report showed there is improved access to bonuses and incentive schemes.
But it hurts Baby Boomers (48pc) as well GenZ (42pc) of workers, research has shown that there is an accumulation of wages related to internal working mid-career roles, where professionals are more likely to hold positions directly linked to business results.
Interestingly, the benefits are considered special, such as menopause leave, menstrual leave, childcare benefits, employment support and unlimited paid leave, have been shown to have limited take-up across generations, suggesting low exposure. The report said, overall, generational analysis suggests that Employee benefits patterns are closely related to job category and how benefits are used in organizations.
“Although core benefits are widely reported for all workers, the diversity of access to young and very young workers points to the need for employers to review eligibility rules and how benefits are communicated, so that rights they are easy to understand and have ongoing knowledge among multi-generational workers.”
Long-term impact
More than two-thirds of participating employees (68pc) indicated that benefits provided by their employer, as part of their job compensation, play a major role in their loyalty, compared to 32pc who reported that benefits do not affect this aspect of their job.
This, by the way Morgan McKinleyshows that, for the majority of employees, benefits form a meaningful part of the overall employment proposition and can influence decisions to stay with an organization for the long term.
But the report also suggested that it is not enough to have benefits available. It is important that they are relevant to the employees in question, as less than half of respondents admit to being ‘somewhat satisfied’ with the benefits they receive, leaving a “significant minority expressing dissatisfaction”.
“More than one in four employees (26.8pc) report being somewhat dissatisfied (17pc) or very dissatisfied (10pc) with their benefits. Given the strong link stated between benefits and loyalty, this dissatisfied group represents a potential retention risk, especially in competitive labor markets where benefits are increasingly used as a variable benefit.”
Commenting on the report’s findings, Trayc Keevans, global FDI director at Morgan McKinley, said: “This report shows that the Irish benefits market is no longer defined by how many benefits an employer can count.
“What stands out is the contradiction. The benefits that workers value most about long-term security, especially pensions and health insurance, are not reaching people early in their careers. In a market made up of an aging population and the average lifetime of society in health insurance, that is a strategic problem for employers, not just a design detail.”
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