1 in 5 employees would like the company to cover the costs for a psychotherapist

Approximately 19% of employees want the institution where they work to cover the costs for a psychotherapist, according to a survey conducted by the Undelucram platform in May. Furthermore, the same percentage of employees would like that the company to subsidize some of the expenses for working from home (payment of energy, a part of the rent).

A number of 2,812 employees over 18 years old responded to this survey between May 18-24. Almost 59% of the respondents received extra benefits during the last 12 months.

The detail that employees want their employers to cover their costs for psychotherapy is in line with the fact that Romanians were the most stressed and fearful employees last year (among Romanians, Czechs, Greeks, Hungarians), but only 4% of them talked to a psychologist, compared to 34% in the case of the Czechs, according to a study conducted by Undelucram at the end of 2020.

What benefits did employees receive during the pandemic?

Most employees received benefits such as meal vouchers (27.1%), private medical insurance (18.2%), the coverage of transport’s costs (11%) or the coverage for the utilities expenses to work from home (8.9%). Also, approximately 6.5% had access to therapy or coaching services, 6.4% received online teambuildings, almost 5.3% has well-being programs, and 5.1% received vouchers for domestic tourism.

The benefits that were offered less are those related to personal and professional development courses (4%), access to co-working spaces (2.6%), Covid-19 testing (2.2%) and budget for purchasing an office desk (1.3%).

What benefits do employees consider to be the most important

Most employees (44.4%) consider that health insurance at a private clinic is the most important benefit offered during the pandemic.

It follows the necessary technology for carrying out the activity (laptop, headphones) with 24.3% of the votes and ensuring the costs of working from home (energy payment, part of the rent) with 11.1% of the votes.

Also, approximately 9.2% of employees consider that the main benefit offered in the pandemic was the flexible work schedule and 6% believe that providing costs for psychotherapy was the most important benefit.

What the employees want

Approximately 19% of employees would like the company to cover some of the costs related to working from home (energy payment, a part of the rent) and the same percentage would like the employer to bear the costs for psychotherapy sessions.

Also, 12.6% would like the institution to offer them the necessary technology to carry out their activity (laptop, headphones) and 11.4% would appreciate having a subscription to a food delivery service. Around 11.4% want a gym membership and 10.1% wish for private medical insurance.

At the same time, 7.6% would like the company to cover the costs for a nutritionist, and 6.3% hope to do PCR tests at the company’s expense.

The fewest – 1.3% – wish the employer to offer them a subscription to a streaming platform. The same percentage would be satisfied with a performance bonus or a minimum benefit such as meal vouchers – these people consider that even a “Thank you” would be enough.

“The discussion about employee benefits can no longer be carried out only in the Human Resources office. It is time to ask employees what their needs are and then analyze the organization’s ability to provide them with relevant benefits. The fact that people feel the need to be financially supported in therapy services should be a clear indicator for employers about the need for well-being. And once people are well, companies will gain too”, says Costin Tudor, founder and CEO of Undelucram.

What parent employees want

Most parent employees (24.1%) would like the employer to cover the costs of having a nanny.

Other significant benefits in parents’ opinion are: private health insurance for children (22.4% of respondents), to be helped to pay for private kindergarten (19%), parenting courses (19%) and to be helped to bear the costs for psychotherapy (15.5%).