Survey: Employers cutting benefit costs - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

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“The responses indicate that as employerz develop benefit plans for 2010 they are lookingy for ways to reduce benefit without furtherreducing benefits,” said Marianne Fazen, executivd director of the association. “Surprisingly, many respondesd that they plan to increase theirwellness programs.” Thirty-five percent of employers responded that they plan to increased their wellness programs. • Companies identifiee as its two biggest concerns limited benefits and limited merit budget andbonus pools. About 68% of companies are concerned or very concerned about limited merit budget andbonus pools, and abouf 53% are concerned about limited benefits budgets.
To weather the economic downturn, almost half of respondentas are auditing or planning to audit their dependent eligibility in order to reduce the number of individuals And 41% plan to increasew employee costs of benefit plans, while more than one-thirr have reduced or are planning to reduce staff. About 89% of employers believe that workers will respond to the economixc downturn bydelaying Also, 83% of employers say theitr workers are concerned about job security, and 42% think thei r employees have been impacted by low The survey was submitted to the association'es employer members and facilitated by in Houston.
The association'zs 900-plus members represent a broad cross-sectionn of benefits professionalsin Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana. Arkansas, Missouru and Kansas, but are not limitedx to those states.