How to put together a global benefits plan
Remote's experts explain how to provide benefits that are locally relevant yet globally competitive, how to stay compliant as you expand internationally, and how to foster fairness and trust across your multinational team!
- How to design an equitable global benefits programme
- How to make sure you comply with local employment laws
- How varying cultural norms and expectations affect your benefits plans
- How to attract and keep top talent by offering outstanding benefits to global workers
- When and the best way to offer benefits to contractors
Download the guide · research/permanent-establishment-risk-guide
Download the guide
Want to provide the best global benefits but unsure where to begin?
Providing strong benefits and fair treatment across your team needn’t be complicated. At Remote, we hire in 70+ countries all over the world. In our free Global Benefits Guide, our experts explain what offering global benefits involves and outline practical steps to put them in place so they match your organisation’s specific needs and goals.
The state of remote and flexible work arrangements
The importance of remote and flexible working is undeniable today, but which employees value these arrangements most?
We surveyed 10,000 full-time employees in 2022 across genders, industries, job roles, countries, and parental statuses to discover the most in-demand employee benefits. The highlights below provide a snapshot of the findings from the full research report:
- Our research shows private medical insurance is most important in the USA
- Additional parental leave is the most valued benefit for parents of one child
- Employees in the Netherlands want employer contributions towards home office setup
Research highlights
The Remote Global Benefits Guide explains which benefits employees value most.
Parents with one child place greater value on remote work than parents with multiple children
The option to work remotely is most important to parents of a single child, although employees across family types and future plans generally agree that remote work matters. Remote work and flexible hours let parents arrange work around their family commitments.
Employers should recognise that many employees’ most productive periods fall outside the conventional 9 am–5 pm window, often because of childcare or other outside commitments.
Letting staff choose hours that suit them can reduce stress and burnout, lower absence rates and boost job satisfaction.
By offering remote work and flexible hours, employers are more likely to attract highly skilled professionals with young children who are actively seeking roles with these benefits.
Employees in the Netherlands place the highest value on remote work
Dutch employers are accustomed to staff working fully remote or in hybrid setups. Even prior to the pandemic, the Netherlands had a notably flexible working culture, which may explain why workers there are more likely than in other surveyed countries to view remote work as an important benefit. Employers hiring in the Netherlands should enable remote work to attract and retain top talent.
The UK, Germany and the USA follow the Netherlands, while employees in France are least likely to say remote work is important, whether it’s offered part-time or full-time.
Remote work matters most for people in advertising and IT roles
Those working in advertising place the most value on full-time remote work, while IT professionals tend to favour part-time remote arrangements.
Whether part-time or full-time, remote work is much less desired by employees in production and sales than by other groups. This suggests employers should explore ways to make remote options more accessible for these roles so those teams can also benefit.
This underlines the value of offering remote work at least part-time when it suits the role. The best benefits packages are tailored to the specific employee types they are designed for.
Most important employee benefits when considering a job move
We surveyed 10,000 full-time employees in France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and the US to find which benefits matter most when people weigh a job change, across genders, parental status, job roles and industries. When considering a move, employees compare their current benefits with what other employers offer to decide whether to stay or apply elsewhere.
Whether your priority is attracting talent or keeping it, flexible working hours, company-sponsored retirement plans or pensions, and early finishes on Fridays are the top three perks to consider including in benefits packages, according to our survey of 10,000 full-time employees in France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and the US. From a health-related benefits perspective, US employees place greater importance on annual leave for self-care/mental health and on private and family private medical insurance than respondents in the European countries we surveyed. Residents of France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK generally have access to universal healthcare, whereas in the US medical costs are typically an individual expense.
It’s therefore important for employers to design customised benefits packages that reflect what employees in each region value. Providing medical insurance to help US employees with healthcare costs shows that you care and helps keep equity across a global team.
In almost every job function, employees want flexible work hours – especially HR
Flexible working is the top benefit across nearly all job functions, except production and some other roles. Employers with many staff in production or in roles not explicitly listed in our survey may find company-sponsored retirement plans or pensions a more effective benefit to include.
Survey results also show that access to dedicated breastfeeding rooms at the office matters most to employees in advertising roles.
Regardless of industry, employers should consider providing private breastfeeding spaces for parents. Beyond promoting inclusion, this supports new parents returning to work and is likely to attract a broader, more diverse pool of high-quality candidates.
