The events of 2020 and the changes that came with it left aftershocks on the landscape of employer health, benefits and well-being in 2021. In late 2021, the Global Institute fielded its fourth annual member priority survey. In looking towards 2022, employers identified their top priorities for the coming year, seen in Figure 1.

Regional Priorities

In the four years of conducting this survey, Global Institute members have consistently identified several similar countries that are their key priorities for the coming year, including China, India, Mexico and the United Kingdom. With the pandemic’s far-reaching and varying impact around the globe, 2022 will introduce even more countries that are a high priority including Australia, Canada and Germany among others. Institute members referenced headcount, growth, well-being engagement and company restructuring as their reasoning behind identifying these regions as top priorities for 2022.

Global Consistency

At the core of all priority areas lies global consistency - providing a consistent standard of experience no matter where in the world an employee is located. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated and brought to light the inequities faced by employees around the world regarding access and availability of benefits. From rolling out globally consistent EAPs to developing a wide-reaching well-being strategy, large employers see 2022 as a key year for enacting and improving upon their global consistency strategies. Our 2021 Global Consistency Strategy Quick Survey delves deeper into the many areas that employers plan to focus on in making their benefits structure more consistent across regions.