The hot, new benefits companies are using to retain women

Companies are adding new benefits aimed at women to help retain top employees and diversify leadership ranks

What you probably already know: Increasingly, employers are looking to create benefits programs that will help them recruit and retain top women candidates. These same candidates are often “benefits shopping” when they look at potential employers. Companies will now cover a round or two of IVF, for instance, or menopause support, as a way to provide equitable access to care for their female-identifying employees.

Why? “What we’ve realized is that when we talk about DE&I as a benefits leader, what that really means is how are we taking action to make sure that underrepresented groups are actually feeling as though they have equitable access to benefits,” said Elle Meza, a benefits consultant who has led HR for Crunchyroll and Docusign. Increasingly, companies are under pressure to diversify their teams, particularly those in leadership roles, and to do that, they have to retain diverse talent.

What it means: Meza says we’re going to see a big shift in company spending on benefits, including menopause support, family-forming care, child care, child disability insurance, weight management, and mental health support. “Companies are getting really detailed about what they offer in their job postings,” she said. For instance, a candidate might see a company offers to pay for two rounds of IVF. “That’s $60,000 that’s not coming out of (the employee’s) pocket. That’s real value,” Meza said.

What happens now? We thought, post pandemic, that women would start coming back to work, Meza said, but we did nothing to increase funding for child care. “There’s no infrastructure to support women in leadership positions who need child care,” she said. That is prompting companies to step in and offer child care benefits so women don’t miss out on opportunities because they can’t travel or work later when a higher-level position requires it.

Learn more: If you want to dive into topic, check out the Women in Work Seattle event on the Microsoft campus on June 5 from 9 a.m. -12:30 p.m. The event will feature Meza, as well as Alaska Airlines SVP Diana Birkett Rakow, Lumen Technologies Chief People Officer Ana White, Starbucks EVP and Chief Partner Officer Sara Kelly and others. Formidable readers get 25% off tickets.