9 in 10 Singaporean SME employees wants medical benefits from employers

Around 60% of those surveyed are more willing to join a firm if they have medical benefits.

Employee medical benefits are an important consideration for most small and medium enterprise (SME) employees, with nine out of 10 saying they want their employers to provide healthcare coverage, according to a survey commissioned by Prudential Singapore.

Around 60% of the 1,029 respondents said that they are more willing to join an SME that provides medical benefits, whilst almost 40% are more likely to stay in a company that provides the same benefits. Almost half of them see companies that provide medical benefits as caring employers.

Amongst the respondents, 13% said that their company does not offer any medical benefits. This number doubled for SMEs with 10 or fewer employees. In recent statistics by the Singapore government, SMEs account for 99% of businesses in Singapore and employs 70% of the workforce.

Prudential Singapore CEO Dennis Tan said that medical benefits are essential to employees’ overall wellbeing and success at work.

“Awareness of health and protection has gone up since the pandemic, so understandably, employees value medical benefits and appreciate investments in their wellbeing and future. An aging workforce coupled with rising healthcare costs are also driving employees to want support in the area of medical protection so that they can focus on their work with greater peace of mind,” Tan said.

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