Just 12% of roles posted online listed health-related perks such as private healthcare, wellbeing perks or life insurance as part of an employment package, according to research by Plasma by Medichecks.
The pathology testing platform looked at more than 5,500 online job adverts within the education, finance, government and public sector, healthcare, hospitality and HR and recruitment industries in July 2023.
It found that only 10% of roles advertised healthy lifestyle options and wellbeing rewards such as access to the bikes-for-work schemes, while 5% and 2% promoted use of free gym classes or discounted gym memberships, shopping and cinema vouchers, and a birthday day off as perks, respectively.
Four in 10 (41%) roles in the finance sector have healthcare and wellbeing perks as part of an employee benefits package, while 11% of HR and recruitment and 7% of government and public sector positions listed such incentives.
Nearly one third (31%) of job packages in Northern Ireland cited healthcare and wellbeing benefits as an offering, followed by North East England, Yorkshire and the Humber and the North West (15%), London (14%) and the South East (13%). The areas listing the least amount of health perks were Wales (4%) and Scotland (6%).
Furthermore, a total of 17% of fully remote positions promoted health initiatives in their adverts.
Dr Natasha Fernando, head of clinical excellence at Plasma by Medichecks, explains: “Since the pandemic, the narrative around employment has massively changed, with a noticeable shift in employees being encouraged to have better work-life balance and to prioritise their mental and physical health.
“The lack of employee benefits which support improved health and wellbeing therefore seems incredibly low. And although budgets may be tight for many businesses, it is in the interests of employers, both commercially and ethically, to do all they can to keep their teams healthy, happy and productive at work. Workers are calling on their employers to offer up rewards that actually make a difference.”