If benefits matter as much as salary,¹ why don’t more employees take advantage of them? More often than not, it’s not the benefits that need to change; it’s the experience of finding, understanding, and using them. And that’s often the missing component for engagement. It’s also one that modern communications, crafted with human empathy, user experience savvy, and AI-driven technology, can help solve.

Today’s best engagement strategies blend human empathy and smart design with data and AI, removing friction so that employees can quickly get answers and take action.

Employee Benefits in 2026 "play a bigger role than ever in shaping the day-to-day employee experience,"¹ keeping existing employees engaged and productive, while helping employers attract new talent.

According to one study, “almost three-quarters of American workers say benefits matter as much as—or more than—their pay."² Similarly, when hiring new talent, Robert Half reports that "A 6-figure offer can get someone’s attention—but in 2026, it’s the perks and benefits that close the deal."³

Employers seeking to mitigate risk and manage rising healthcare costs should be mindful of the need to strengthen their social contract with their workforce. That’s going to make it critical to step up their game with voluntary benefits: the more effectively they harness the power of their employee benefits data to get there, the better it’ll serve everyone’s interests.

Smarter use of analytics can help you design and offer health plans tailored to which employee groups they best suit – from low-wage earners to executives. Given the abundance of new benefits products and vendors, using employee benefits analytics is also a great way to clear the mud so you can focus on products that are the best fit for employees with unique needs.