Which Industries Have the Best Benefits?
best-benefits

Which Industries Have the Best Benefits?

How competitive is your industry when it comes to benefits, and where does your company stack up? According to a recent Glassdoor survey, three in five people consider benefits and perks among their top considerations before applying for a job. As your company competes for top talent and aims to present a competitive package to candidates, is your benefits package up to par?

Benefits by industry

It’s a well-known fact that all benefits plans are not created equal -- especially across different industries. Benefits including health insurance, parental leave, 401(k) matching and perks vary dramatically based on which industry you work in.

To help employers better understand the differences in benefits (and the quality of those benefits), Glassdoor has built a global Benefits Reviews database. This database has hundreds of thousands of reviews from employees  on the benefits and perks offered at companies around the world. In a new study from Glassdoor Economic Research, The Best Industries for Benefits, we studied this database for the first time to look at the highest--and lowest--rated industries for benefits.

So which industries have the highest-rated benefits? Here’s what we found:

Finance, IT and manufacturing have the best overall benefits

Overall, the highest-rated overall benefits are in finance (3.72), information technology (IT) (3.68), and manufacturing (3.64). These sectors include many of today’s in-demand tech and finance jobs, as well as high-skilled blue-collar manufacturing jobs.

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Alternatively, our research found that food services (2.73) and retail (3.11) have the lowest overall benefits ratings by industry.

Parental leave

When it comes to parental leave benefits, finance came in on top (3.77), IT followed close behind (3.71) and education came in third (3.60). This education group includes many large American universities, explaining its spot on our list. Alternatively, the lowest-rated industries for parental leave policies were health care (3.36), retail (3.41) and business services (3.42).

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401(k) plans

America’s highest-rated 401(k) retirement benefits were found in finance (3.83), education (3.77), and manufacturing (3.76). Which industries had the lowest 401(k) benefits ratings? Food services (3.28), business services (3.31), and retail (3.76).

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Free food & snacks

When it comes to free food, IT is ahead of the pack (4.06), with business services (3.94) and manufacturing (3.90) close behind. Alternatively, the lowest-rated free lunch and snacks benefits were found in education (3.22), retail (3.34) and finance (3.76).

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Why benefits matter

Unlike salaries, benefit packages are highly diverse. Access to benefits matters, but so does the quality of those benefits offered. How does your industry rank in categories like overall benefits score, parental leave, 401(k) offerings and free food? Take a look at the full report, The Best Industries for Benefits.

Methodology

Study based on 470,000 benefits reviews shared by U.S. employees on Glassdoor between 6/18/14-9/20/15. Full methodology can be found here: https://www.glassdoor.com/research/studies/best-industries-for-benefits/