employees concentrating on salary

Around 38 per cent of companies have noticed a growing trend during the past two years for employees to opt out of benefits, such as company pension schemes, life insurance or income protection cover, in order to have higher take-home pay.

A further 18 per cent said the amount of money that staff were contributing to their pension had decreased, according to insurer Unum.

Unum chief marketing officer Marco Forato said several concerning trends pointed to many employees taking a very short-term view of their financial situation and workers should only opt out of long-term benefits as a last resort.

n 100 human resources professionals were questioned for the survey.