As today’s workforce continues to evolve, employers now manage four generations of employees who have differing—and sometimes conflicting—needs. This dynamic prompted ARAG Legal Insurance to learn more about how employees’ generation impacts their views of their benefits, communication preferences and top concerns.

The ARAG Multigenerational Workforce Study 2024 surveyed 2400 full-time employees from across the U.S. and analyzed responses from each of the four generations.

Millennials are by far the largest working generation. But as Boomers continue to retire (albeit more slowly than many expected), Zoomers are rapidly becoming a more prominent force. In fact, Gen Z employees are expected to outnumber Boomers by the end of 2024 and are forecast to represent a third of the workforce by 2030.

As you help your clients review their benefits offering for the coming years, it’d be helpful to keep these generational nuances in mind to stay relevant and more inclusive.

What’s keeping employees up at night—and how can voluntary benefits help
According to ARAG’s research, financial stability was the most pressing issue for all employees while a closely aligned worry about future uncertainties was a top three concern across all generations.

Overall, the primary worries causing respondents to lose sleep are:

• Financial stability (63 percent)
• Future uncertainties (45 percent)
• Work-life balance (39 percent)
• Experiencing high levels of stress or anxiety (37 percent)
• Their own health issues (35 percent)

Some distinct generational differences to note include:

• Younger workers (Gen Z and Millennials) expressed greater concern about their financial stability than their more senior colleagues.
• In addition to finances, Millennials are the most concerned about job security and navigating complex family matters.
• Members of Gen Z are most worried about work-life balance and most likely to experience high levels of stress and anxiety.
• For Gen X and Boomers, health concerns can loom large—their own health and the health of family members.

What does this mean for your clients? Employers should consider investing in or expanding programs that can help alleviate some of this stress, such as financial counseling, retirement planning, student loan repayment plans, LTC solutions or legal insurance. These types of voluntary benefits can help employees prepare for the future and mitigate risk as unforeseen issues arise.

What each generation thinks of their employers’ benefit offering
The good news is: Overall, 76 percent of employees feel some level of financial, emotional or mental support from their employers. Further, the 2024 ARAG study reports that 69 percent of employees are “somewhat to very satisfied” with the benefits program offered by their current employer.

When looking at this stat by generation, we find that older generations are the most pleased with the benefits options; with nearly three-quarters of Gen Xers expressing satisfaction, followed by Boomers (70 percent), Millennials (68 percent) and Gen Z (66 percent).

But what about the more than 30 percent of employees that don’t feel this way? Nearly two-thirds of those employees were dissatisfied because benefit costs were too high and 42 percent thought the options were too limited. Gen X (76 percent) and Millennials (63 percent) were most likely to cite high cost—which makes sense when you consider that these two generations are more likely to have dependents or a family plan for most of their benefits.

How well do employees really understand their benefits
The ARAG 2024 study found that nearly 40 percent of employees are “not at all or only slightly familiar” with non-medical voluntary benefits, such as life insurance, financial wellness and planning programs, LTC, pet insurance and legal plans. But understanding these benefit options can be key to addressing employees’ biggest concerns.

Contributing factors for this disconnect were lack of communication; benefit program complexity (being too hard to understand); and not having enough time to learn about these benefits. On average, employees spend just 23 minutes reviewing information on these voluntary benefit options. Gen Z, the newest entrants to the workforce, spends slightly less time than Boomers, who consider themselves very familiar with their options.

Perhaps it’s no surprise then that nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of Zoomers report seeking advice or opinions from colleagues, friends or family members to support their benefit decision-making.

This speaks to the need to ensure your benefits content is easily accessible, on-demand and easy to understand and share, particularly for employees new to the world of benefits.

Workplace communication preferences are shifting
When your clients are working on creating messaging around their benefits, particularly during open enrollment, keep in mind that most employees (60 percent) need a “moderate” amount of information to decide if they will enroll in a non-medical voluntary benefit.

As employers think through how best to hit that “just right” level of benefits information, their communication plans should also factor in each generation’s preferred methods to receive that information—both where they align and where they differ.

All generations across the workforce have an affinity for receiving open enrollment communications via email.

Older generations still prefer more traditional printed booklets and benefits guides, while younger colleagues heavily favor digital communications, such as digital booklets, videos, texts, and online articles.

And to further illustrate how large the digital divide can be, consider this. For those who had never used AI-based tools to help make benefit selections—given the opportunity, more than half of Gen Z employees would be open to using it while 73 percent of Boomers said they were unwilling to even try.

Looking forward
The bottom line for you and your clients is that employees want to feel supported by their employers in their personal and professional lives—and one impactful way employers can do that is through the benefits that they offer. As more members of Gen Z enter the workforce and more Boomers exit, employers will need to adapt their benefits and communications strategies that support them to resonate with younger generations’ preferences and needs. It’s also a great opportunity for you to help clients communicate more effectively about the value their benefits deliver to employees, regardless of their age or life stage.