Employee benefits and technology trends report  

Technology is integral to adapting at speed and transforming business processes in the face of continuous crises. It’s the foundation that underpins and future-proofs your people, rewards and benefits strategy.

As employees' expectations and experiences evolve, a forward-thinking digital benefits strategy becomes essential for organisations and individuals to thrive. Leveraging benefits technology allows employers to achieve more while minimising administrative burden and uncertainty. It streamlines transactional activities, ensures compliance, and mitigates operational risks. Ultimately, this positively impacts employee experience and their perception of their employers.

Our 2024 year-on-year Benefit Technology pulse survey temperature-checked key themes from our 2023 research, to determine if and how the market has shifted in the last 12 months. 

We found a market shift towards prioritising AI, centralising operations and data insight in the face of rising benefit costs, and ensuring global consistency for benefit teams and employees alike. 

As in 2023, nearly 50% of total HR budgets are being allotted to technology, yet the two key drivers in 2024 behind this are:

• The need for greater consistency and centralisation across regional and global teams
• The use of AI technology for analytics and employee reporting

85% of HR professionals stated that they plan to use AI specifically for Reward and Benefits over the next 12 months, while 52% say investment in AI is becoming more important. Those surveyed found that the biggest opportunity for using AI in the benefits function is currently analytics, to better understand their employee population and keep a handle on rising benefit costs.

With most people trying to do more with less in the current economy, it makes sense that consolidation, centralisation and using AI tools for efficiency and admin-heavy tasks are top priorities for HR teams. 88% of respondents are likely to combine their tech, consulting and broking with a single adviser in the next 1-5 years – which highlights the massive opportunity our joint value proposition presents.

It builds an intentional and authentic approach, bringing business priorities, people needs and risk management together, allowing employers to deliver on their key benefit programme objectives. 

With only 59% of employees saying that their benefits meet their needs, the time to focus on impactful personalisation, meaningful connections and technology to power transformation is now.