Companies Keep Slashing Employees’ Benefits for the Worst Reasons

Key Points:

• Several US companies, including TTEC, Deloitte, and Zoom, are cutting back on employee benefits such as 401(k) matches, parental leave, and family planning reimbursements, citing rising costs and shifting priorities.
• Deloitte’s benefit cuts disproportionately affect internal support roles, reducing parental leave and other perks, a move criticized as unfair and harmful to employee morale.
• Rising healthcare costs and the lapse of Affordable Care Act subsidies have increased employer-sponsored health plan expenses, pressuring companies to reduce benefits despite the negative impact on workers.
• Experts highlight the lack of federal paid parental leave in the US as a root cause of reliance on employer-provided benefits, calling for national policy reforms to better support workers.
• While some benefit reductions are significant, experts caution against normalizing these cuts and emphasize that undermining employee welfare can ultimately harm companies’ competitiveness and bottom lines.