Published by Trustmark Voluntary Benefits on November 11th, 2019

Imagine two people. One is a 53 year-old man with two kids in college. The other is a 25 year-old woman who does photography on weekends to pay off her student debt. What do the two of them have in common? They could very easily have the same employer. 



Today’s workplace is more generationally-diverse than ever. While their diversity of experiences and worldviews can provide a well-rounded approach to problem solving at work, designing the right benefits program to meet all their needs can be a challenge. To help shed some light on each of these generations and what their insurance needs may be, we’ve pulled one key statistic to keep in mind for each of them:
  • Baby Boomers - born between 1946 and 1964
    • One stat to know: 45 percent of baby boomers claim to have zero savings for retirement.1
    • Baby boomers are either starting to retire or are looking to retire in the not-too-distant future. But that retirement isn’t necessarily all that secure. Baby boomers are in need of solutions that can help them prepare for retirement or help provide added security once they’ve retired.
 
  • Generation X - born between 1965 and 1976
    • One stat to know: Just 59 percent of Generation X feels confident about their finances, the lowest of any generation.2
    • This demographic is sometimes referred to as the “sandwich generation” because they’re stuck between caring for both their older parent and their younger children. Between juggling those responsibilities and planning for retirement, they may feel stretched thin. As such, they’re likely to benefit from financial wellness programs and benefits that help them plan for care I the future.
 
  • Millennials - born between 1977 and 1997
    • One stat to know: Millennials prefer to connect face-to-face when interacting with an insurance representative.3
    • This isn’t so much a statement about what benefits to provide millennials, but an interesting nuance on how to deliver messaging and engage them in their benefits. We tend to see millennials as tech-dependent and shying away from face-to-face interaction. They may prefer that method of communication to do their own research, but they still prefer in-person interaction to enroll and make important decisions about their benefits.
 
  • Generation Z - born after 1997
    • One stat to know: 70 percent of Generation Z say their top “must have” at work is health insurance.4
    • Flexible work hours, a casual dress code and a ping pong table are nice, but Generation Z is still thinking about the more pragmatic benefits of employment. It’s not safe to assume that workplace environment or opportunities for advancement are everything to the youngest generation in the workforce. Protecting their health and their finances is very much on the radar and employers need to take this into account.

So, how do you account for all these varying needs? Well, just like there’s no one generation in the workplace, there’s no one easy fix. Instead, the focus is on providing benefit options that employees can tailor to their needs. Understanding who these generations are and what challenges they face will help you in crafting the benefits program that works for the demographics in your workforce.

1 “The baby boomer generation is starting to retire - and no one is prepared”. BenefitsPRO. 2019.
2 “Benefit Mix Can Help Financially Stressed Generation X”. SHRM. 2019.
3 “Trustmark and Customer Benefits Analytics, “Who Buys Voluntary and Why: 2017 Enrollment Study.”
4 Generation Z in the Workforce. Concordia University.