Top benefits in 2025

The vast majority (97 percent) of employers offered health coverage, and 88 percent continued to rate health care benefits as their top priority in 2025, according to recent research from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). The 2025 Benefits Survey noted that today’s employers face economic uncertainty, disruptive technologies, persistent inflation, and an aging workforce, which make benefits decisions ever more important—and potentially more complex. The survey contains responses from 3,969 human resource professionals.

For the fourth consecutive year, SHRM found that leave benefits tied for second with retirement savings and planning benefits when respondents were asked to rank the most important benefits. These categories were listed as “extremely important” or “very important” by 81 percent of employers. Flexible working benefits (68 percent), family care benefits (67 percent), and professional and career development benefits (65 percent) were the other benefits employers ranked as most important. According to SHRM, these categories have remained fairly steady in recent years, although flexible working benefits declined by 2 percentage points in 2025.

While the percentage of employers that offer a health savings account (61 percent) and those that offer a health reimbursement arrangement (14 percent) have stayed about the same, both medical and dependent care flexible spending accounts (FSAs) have been on the decline over the past few years, the survey found. Sixty percent of employers offer a medical FSA, down from 63 percent in 2024 and 68 percent in 2021. Dependent care FSAs have also been on a downward trend: 54 percent of employers offer the accounts in 2025, down from 58 percent in 2024 and 65 percent in 2021.

The survey also found the following:

• Retirement planning. Traditional 401(k) options remain prevalent with 93 percent of employers offering them, while 76 percent of employers now offer Roth 401(k) plans, up 3 percentage points from last year and continuing their consistent upward trend.
• Family care. The aging workforce and increased reliance on elder care remain ongoing concerns, with only 13 percent of organizations offering elder care referral services, a figure which has remained unchanged.
• Professional development. Leadership coaching has risen significantly, with 47 percent of organizations now offering leadership development programs, up 3 percentage points from 2024, demonstrating a renewed focus on empowering future leaders.
• Wellness programs. Benefits related to employee well-being saw a significant decline over the last few years, with only 39 percent of employers offering wellness programs with resources in 2025, down from 53 percent in 2021.
• GLP-1 coverage. Twenty-three percent of employers offered GLP-1 drug coverage in 2025.
• Artificial intelligence. Employers are increasingly embracing new technologies, with 16 percent of companies offering AI chatbot subscriptions (such as ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot) as a tool to support employee productivity, suggesting a growing trend in tech-enabled benefits, SHRM found

“The 2025 SHRM Benefits Survey reflects the dynamic evolution of workplace priorities, highlighting how organizations are adapting to economic pressures, technological disruptions, and shifting employee expectations,” said Alex Alonso, Ph.D., SHRM-SCP, chief data and analytics officer at SHRM. “As artificial intelligence continues to reshape the workforce, employers must leverage data-driven insights to design benefits strategies, balancing flexibility, well-being, and skill development.”

SOURCE: www.shrm.org/benefits

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