New report finds a mismatch between what benefits employees want and employers offer
Flexibility has emerged as the top workplace benefit that New Zealand employees value the most, according to a new report, which warned that employers may be missing the mark when it comes to the perks they offer their workforce.
The 2026 Cultivate Workplace Benefits Report found a potential mismatch between what benefits employers provide and what workers say they need.
In its poll of 1,003 respondents, time and flexibility have emerged as the most-valued benefit for employees, as cited by 39%. This covers extra leave, flexible work, or remote work.
"When people have to choose one thing, they choose time or cost relief," said Trina Jones, Co-CEO of Cultivate.
By contrast, wellbeing support landed among the least valued perks, with only two per cent citing it as the benefit they value now.
"When your pay hasn't kept up with the weekly shop, a benefit that gives you time back with your family, or takes a cost off your plate, lands very differently to a gym discount."
The full list of valued benefits, ranked from most valued to least, includes:
- Time or flexibility, such as extra leave, flexible, or remote work (39%)
- Reducing everyday living costs (20%)
- Health protection, income protection, life insurance (18%)
- Long-term financial security (12%)
- Career development (6%)
- Wellbeing support (2%)
Mismatched offers from employers
The findings come in the wake of greater value being placed by New Zealand employees on workplace perks.
More than a third (36%) of the respondents said benefits now matter more to how they value a job than they did three years ago.
Over a quarter (28%) of respondents whose pay has kept pace or moved ahead of inflation also have the same sentiments, according to the report.
The problem, however, is only 19% of the respondents believe the benefits offered to them are genuinely available and well-matched to what they need.
"Benefits are being asked to carry more weight, and a lot of them aren't landing," said Tony Pownall, Co-CEO of Cultivate. "It isn't just that employers aren't spending. It's that a lot of what they do spend is aimed at the wrong target."
A strong area of mismatch is on wellbeing, according to the report. Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) are the most commonly provided perks in the report (51%), but 61% of those who have them have never used them.
Health insurance emerged as the stronger and more valued wellbeing benefit, but the report noted that EAPs are offered to almost twice as many people.
"EAP matters, and for someone in genuine difficulty it can matter enormously," Jones said. "But it responds after someone is already struggling. It was never designed to carry a wellbeing strategy on its own, and that is close to what's being asked of it. What people asked us for was time and flexibility, which is preventative rather than reactive."
What can employers do?
Pownall advised employers to reach out to their workforce in order to get a clearer picture of what benefits they need.
"Ask the people who rely on them. It costs nothing, and it tells you what they value, what they don't know they have, and where the next dollar should go," Pownall said.
He offered the advice as he warned that an organisation's offered benefits may be limited by those who designed them.
In fact, the report found that executives are more likely to describe their benefits as well-matched and easy to understand and use compared with other members of the workforce.
"The people designing benefit packages are having a better experience of them than the people they're designed for," Pownall said. "If you're wondering whether yours are working, you're probably the least representative person to ask."
