Talent Shortage Emerges as No. 1 Employer Concern: Deloi...( Economic Security in Retirement and...),Health

Economic Security in Retirement and Financial Growth Opportunities Most

Troubling to Employees, According to Survey

NEW YORK, March 25 /PRNewswire/ -- A shortage of skilled and talented workers has become the most pressing concern among employers, supplanting the perennial leading problem, rising cost of health care, according to the 14th annual Top Five Total Rewards Priorities survey conducted by Deloitte Consulting LLP (Deloitte) and the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists (ISCEBS).

Nearly three-quarters of the 413 U.S. human resources professionals surveyed cited talent as their top concern. Meanwhile, 71 percent identified cost containment of health care as a top five concern this year, dropping from 80 percent last year. Other leading issues are the willingness of employees to pay for an increasing portion of benefit plan coverage and to manage their own reward budget (58 percent), clear alignment of total rewards strategy with business strategy and brand (56 percent), and demonstrating appropriate return on investment for reward expenditures (42 percent).

"Clearly, talent management is the top organizational challenge -- higher than managing the cost of total rewards, especially health care," said Tim Phoenix, a principal in Deloitte's Human Capital service area and co-director of the survey. "We find that HR organizations around the world are becoming increasingly business-driven and strategic, shifting their focus from HR administration and cost reduction to long-term ROI and growth in a way that directly impacts the bottom line."

Economic Insecurity

Responding to questions from an employee perspective, survey respondents pointed to economic security in retirement and financial growth opportunities before retirement as primary areas of concern.

Forty-two percent of respondents cited the "ability to afford retirement, including post-retirement health care," as the mo
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