The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), in collaboration with AIA, has released its Asia Employee Benefits Report 2025, highlighting the significant impact of rising costs and digital transformation on employee benefits strategies across Asia. The report, which surveyed organisations in Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong, found that nearly half (49%) of respondents identified these factors as primary pressures.
Budget constraints emerged as the top challenge in designing benefits, with 63% of organisations citing it as a major issue. Understanding employee expectations followed closely, with 44% of respondents acknowledging it as a significant hurdle. The report also noted a decline in the provision of traditional insurance benefits such as life/accident insurance, hospitalisation, and surgical insurance, attributed to budget pressures.
May Leng Kwok, Head of Market Development, Global, for CIPD, emphasised the importance of aligning benefits with employee expectations: “Regularly gathering employee feedback is critical to closing this gap and ensuring benefits offerings are both valuable and relevant in today’s dynamic environment.”
David Chow, Director, Group Corporate Solutions at AIA, added, “Offering the right mix of benefits, especially in mental health and wellbeing, is more critical than ever.”
Looking ahead, employers plan to prioritise outpatient insurance, mental health, and life/accident insurance. The report underscores the need for organisations to adapt their benefits strategies to remain competitive amidst economic pressures and evolving workforce expectations.
