Survey: Employers cutting benefit costs - Boston Business Journal:

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“The responses indicate that as employers develop benefit plans for 2010 they are looking for ways to reducebenefit costs, without further reducing benefits,” said Marianne executive director of the “Surprisingly, many responded that they plan to increase theird wellness programs.” • Thirty-five percent of employers respondedr that they plan to increase their wellness programs. • Companies identified as its two biggesf concerns limitedbenefits budgets, and limitedr merit budget and bonus pools. About 68% of companies are concernecd or very concerned about limited merit budgey andbonus pools, and about 53% are concerned about limited benefitsd budgets.
• To weather the economic almost half of respondents are auditing or planninvg to audittheir employees’ dependent eligibilitu in order to reduce the number of individuals covered. And 41% plan to increasee employee costs of benefit while morethan one-third have reduced or are planning to reducwe staff. • About 89% of employersz believe that workers will respondf to the economic downturn bydelaying retirement. Also, 83% of employerw say their workers are concerneds aboutjob security, and 42% think their employees have been impacted by low morale. The survey was submitted to the association'as employer members and facilitated byin Houston.
The association'sd 900-plus members represent a broacd cross-section of benefits professionalsin Texas, Louisiana. Arkansas, Missouri and but are not limited tothose