Firms Are Shaking Up Benefits To Keep Workers From Quitting. The Retirement Plan Could Be Next.

As resignations soar and the war for talent heats up amid a tight labor market, companies are turning to any tool at their disposal—even the normally staid retirement plan—to attract and retain workers.

KPMG, the global accounting and consulting firm, announced to employees on Monday the most significant overhaul to its benefits plan in more than 10 years. The firm said it will reduce the cost of health premiums to employees by 10%, expand its paid family leave and add three weeks of “caregiver leave” that can be used for bereavement or to care for a family member.

It is also shaking up its retirement plans, replacing its 401(k) match with an automatic 6% to 8% contribution that all employees with a year of service will receive whether they contribute to the plan or not.

“We’re trying to construct a benefit program that is not only re-recruiting our own people constantly but also trying to recruit new talent,” says Paul Knopp, KPMG’s chair and CEO.

While the new automatic contribution is designed to help attract and retain workers, it will also help compensate them as KPMG freezes its pension plan, a move many large companies made years ago.

Knopp says that for all but the longest tenured workers—like most professional services firms, KPMG’s workforce includes many young employees—the automatic contribution will be higher than the combined value of KPMG’s existing plans and a more portable benefit for workers. For more senior employees, additional credits will help get them close to the prior amount, Knopp says.

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