Author: Juliet KwekHead of People Solutions, Hong Kong & Greater China
HR leaders today are navigating the complex expectations of a workforce spanning four generations—Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z. Each group brings distinct preferences when it comes to employee benefits, making a one-size-fits-all approach increasingly outdated. In response, flexible benefits have emerged as a strategic and powerful solution to meet diverse needs.
Corporations and Employees Reap Rewards from Flexible BenefitsAccording to a report published by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (1), flexible benefits ranked as the second most important area for enhancement among employee offerings.
A flexible benefits plan allows individuals to choose employee benefit options that fit their personal needs and lifestyle. Its implementation can boost employee engagement, improve retention, and attract talent.
Instead of offering employees a fixed set of benefits, HR professionals design a menu of benefits that usually include medical insurance, life insurance, vision coverage, health check-ups, and other wellness programs. Each employee is given a spending account to allocate credits and subscribe to their preferred benefits through an online platform.
While employees find it easier to manage their benefits online, the digital platform provides useful benefits data to HR teams for analytics and cost control purposes.
Based on the benefits data, HR practitioners can analyze which benefits are most utilized and which are underused. These demographic insights can be further segmented by gender, age group, and marital status. This kind of scalability allows HR to calibrate the offerings and optimize budget planning.
Multigenerational Workforce Welcomes FlexibilityFlexi benefits help level the playing field by offering benefits that are accessible and meaningful across various life stages and backgrounds. A survey shows that 64% of employees across different generations in Asia identify flexibility as their top job priority(2) .
Although Baby Boomers and Gen X are more used to a traditional, one-size-fits-all employee benefits program, this doesn’t mean they don’t want to have more choices. Rising healthcare costs are a major concern for these two generations. Baby Boomers value preventive healthcare such as health screenings and regular check-ups, while Gen X prioritizes the well-being of their spouses and children.
On the other hand, research found that Millennials and Gen Z rank good work-life balance as their second top career goal, behind achieving financial independence (3). By 2030, it is projected that Millennials and Gen Z will make up 74% of the global working population(4) , hence their outlook on employee benefits is setting the tone for the future of work.
Flexible Benefits: A Win-Win SituationConsidering the above advantages of flexible benefits, one may imagine that this benefits program is widely adopted. Nonetheless, only one in five corporations across Asia provides flexible benefits to employees (5). As the workforce becomes more diverse, HR leaders should take employees’ needs into account and be digitally ready when rolling out flexible benefits.
Offering flexible benefit plans is a win-win situation: employees are empowered with choices, and businesses boost retention and employee satisfaction. When employees feel valued and supported, they stay and thrive with the organization.
For more information, please visit our People Solutions page or contact us at LocktonPeopleSolutions.HK@lockton.com
| (1), (5) | Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. (2024). Asia employee benefits report. https://www.cipd.org/globalassets/media/knowledge/knowledge-hub/reports/2024-pdfs/8554-employee-benefits-report-asia-web.pdf. |
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| (2) | PWC. (2024). Asia Pacific Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2024. https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/asia-pacific/hope-and-fears/2024/asia-pacific-hopes-and-fears-2024.pdf |
| (3) | Deloitte. (2025). 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey. https://www.deloitte.com/content/dam/assets-shared/docs/campaigns/2025/2025-genz-millennial-survey.pdf |
| (4) | Forrester. (2021, March 16). The Next-Gen Workforce: Five Key Tech Areas Separate Younger Workers from Older Generations. Forrester. (2021, March 16). The Next-Gen Workforce: Five Key Tech Areas Separate Younger Workers from Older Generations. |
