How Millennial and Gen Z Expectations Are Shaping the Benefits Landscape
Millennials and Gen Z together now account for over half of the global workforce. With Millennials settling into career and family life and Gen Z kicking off their professional journeys, their priorities often revolve around holistic wellbeing, work-life balance, and financial security.
Here’s the big thing to keep in mind: benefits aren’t a one-size-fits-all, but trends within each generation can help you identify where to evolve your benefits administration and offerings strategies. Millennials and Gen Z share some overlapping values but diverge on certain benefits based on life stage, financial security, and their overall outlook on the future.
Today, more than half of employees say they’re willing to leave for an organization that’s more empathetic and will provide their most-wanted benefits, like mental health. Catering to the expectations and needs that matter most to your employees is what will set your organization apart in a competitive talent market.
Check out our 2025 Benefits Insights Report for more insights into how your employees are feeling about technology, their benefits experience, and more.
The Core Values Millennials and Gen Z Seek in Benefits
- Mental Health Support Is Non-Negotiable
Both Millennials and Gen Z rank mental health resources as one of the most important workplace benefits. Organizational stressors, financial pressures, and the lingering effects of the pandemic have made this a top priority. Our State of Workplace Empathy Report found that 50% of all employees had experienced a mental health issue in the past year and that 68% of Gen Z and 62% of Millennials had reported a mental health issue.
Even more upsetting: only 57% of all employees say they’re aware of mental health benefits through their employer and 17% said they worked through it without any support at all.
Millennials and Gen Z value:
- Access to on-demand mental health resources, such as virtual therapy apps.
- Inclusion of mental health days as an encouraged practice—not just as PTO but time officially carved out for well-being.
- EAPs (Employee Assistance Programs) that cater to mental health alongside traditional career counseling.
- Financial Wellness Tools for Long-Term Security
Many millennials are juggling mortgages, child-related expenses, and retirement savings. While much of Gen Z is navigating the aftermath of student loans and entering adulthood during economic instability. 62% of Gen Z said they’d panic about an unexpected medical expense. With all that going on, it’s no wonder that financial stress is at an all-time high for these generations. However, employers can help alleviate this pressure by offering tools and resources to support their employees’ long-term financial wellness.
Millennials and Gen Z value:
- Student debt assistance: Programs that help pay down student loans are especially appealing to Gen Z.
- 401(k) matching: Transparency around long-term contributions and compounding investments is critical for Millennials.
- Tools like financial coaching services or automated savings programs help younger workers achieve financial literacy and security.
- Personalized, Flexible Health Plans
Gone are the days when a single health plan worked for everyone. Gen Z has demonstrated a demand for customization in benefits that reflect their individual situations. Employers can meet this demand by offering personalized health plans that cater to specific needs and preferences.
Flexible health plans, such as Health Savings Accounts (HSA) or Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), allow employees to allocate funds according to their own healthcare needs. These types of accounts also offer tax benefits for both employers and employees, making them highly attractive options.
In addition to flexibility in choosing a health plan, younger workers also value wellness programs that promote physical and mental well-being. Companies can go beyond traditional gym memberships by offering options like yoga classes, meditation workshops, and more.
Strategies to align your benefits offerings with Millennial and Gen Z Priorities
Our 2025 Benefits Insights Report showed that 86% of people remain confused about their benefits. And while it would be nice to say that the younger, more technology savvy Millennials and Gen Z should improve upon that static statistic – it seems unlikely given we’ve seen that number hover at or around 86% for the past half decade.
Here are 3 strategies to help make your benefits offerings pop and to drive a better experience for your Millennial and Gen Z employees.
- Start with simplifying benefits communication
The language we use in life is so important and that remains true for benefits communication. Maybe even more so for Gen Z who don’t have as much experience in the benefits world. We all need to try and be better for them than we were for generations prior. We can do that by avoiding the use of acronyms, utilizing infographics or FAQ guides, and maybe even providing some one-on-one help when it’s needed. Overall, the goal should be to use simplified language in communications and teach employees how to maximize their benefits.
- Take advantage of technology they’re already familiar with using
While we said being tech savvy alone won’t fix the benefits confusion epidemic, it can go a long way in helping these two generations have a better benefits experience. Both Millennials and Gen Z appreciate digital tools that streamline their experience. In fact, they’re using them daily in other parts of their lives.
Invest in easy-to-navigate benefits platforms that offer mobile capabilities, like enrollment apps or AI-powered assistants to answer FAQs in real-time. These tools can help employees stay informed and engaged with their benefits, without having to sift through confusing paperwork or wait for HR to respond to questions. Both generations have a strong ability to self service if you give them the resources to do so.
- Drive year-round engagement
Instead of focusing solely on annual enrollment, provide year-round support. Send reminders about events to simplify re-enrolling health coverage or updates about new personalized benefits they can activate at any time. Having a benefits administration platform that can manage communications can make this a lot easier on your HR team and help ensure you stick with a consistent communication approach.
Year-round engagement and technology go hand in hand. Having a single platform, like Benefitsolver, where employees can access and manage their benefits anytime, anywhere can make a huge impact. This type of platform makes it convenient for employees to track their coverage and make any necessary changes throughout the year. It also allows HR teams to easily communicate updates or important information about benefits.
Getting it right for Millennials and Gen Z
Adapting your benefits strategy to meet the expectations of Millennials and Gen Z is no longer optional, it’s essential for attracting and retaining top talent.
