Most Valued Benefits
 June 6, 2004

We conducted a very informal survey of administrative staff members about which benefits are the most highly valued. Not surprising, health insurance was overwhelmingly the most valued benefit followed by 401(k) matching programs and tuition reimbursement. The least valued seem to be group term life insurance, vision care and medical spending accounts.

Two interesting observations—even among those who highly value tuition reimbursement, few say they have actually used the benefit, and parking reimbursement seems to be a function of the norm for a city. In cities where parking is normally paid, employees expect it and do not place great value on the benefit. In cities where most firms do not pay for parking, it is viewed as a very valuable benefit.