Health insurance a 'sought-after benefit' among NZ employees – survey

A significant number of New Zealanders said health insurance is an important factor in making employment considerations.

This is according to a recent survey conducted by the Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA) and nib New Zealand (nib) among 1,205 workers from small, medium, and large businesses, spread across senior management, middle management, and frontline staff.

With one in four employees revealing that they intend to find new jobs in the next 12 months, EMA and nib’s 2022 Workplace Wellbeing Survey found that 57% of respondents view health insurance as a key benefit for consideration when changing jobs.

Moreover, with 91% of employees disclosing they’ve experienced negative physical effects in the last three months as a result of work, nearly half of the HR practitioners that participated in the survey said having private health insurance would help staff on extended sick leave return to work faster.

“It’s encouraging to see the survey results reinforce what we see in our business and what we hear from our rapidly growing portfolio of business clients, that providing fully funded health insurance for employees is a sought-after benefit,” said nib CEO Rob Hennin.

The survey also revealed what employees consider to be their biggest concern, with 79% saying they were most worried about the current state of the economy, 64% citing their uncertainty about the future, and 58% pointing to their health.

"Wellbeing is about physical, mental, and social health,” Hennin said. “It’s important that workplaces put policies and initiatives in place that support employees.”