17 June 2025
70% of employers with overseas employees do not know their benefits spend
The latest research1 from Towergate Employee Benefits reveals that 70% of employers with staff based outside of the UK do not know their total spend on employee benefits.
Many companies will not have expertise in managing global benefits and may not know how best to keep track of it. It is, however, vital that companies know and understand their total benefits spend. This is the only way to make sure they are spending the right money on the right benefits and that they have enough budget to fund all the essential benefits employees should have.
Sarah Dennis, head of international at Towergate Employee Benefits, says: “Whilst it can be difficult to keep up to date with benefits spend when it is on a global basis, 70% represents a huge number of employers who do not have a full handle on their benefits spend, and an awful lot more employees who may be missing out, or even being over-compensated.”
Growth areas
This can particularly be an issue for countries that are seeing high growth, as it can be difficult to keep on top of costs. For instance, South America, Africa and Southeast Asia are big business growth areas. While labour in these areas can be lower cost, there are also many employment regulations with which to comply. Health and wellbeing policies often need to be placed with a regulated provider. Consequently, there are a lot of different costs for employers to keep on top of, including costs for local policies, global policies, and different policies that are needed in different locations – where state-funded support is not offered.
Certain sectors are also seeing high growth on a global basis, including IT, technology, manufacturing, financial services and pharmaceuticals. Often an employer will start by sending just one or two people overseas and then find that rapid growth means they are suddenly dealing with many more employees abroad who need a wider range of benefits. It is important, therefore, to have the right health and wellbeing in place from the start, to ensure that growth is supported.
Specific support, at known costs
It is particularly important that overseas employees have support in place that meets their specific needs. Depending on the location, this might include evacuation or repatriation, or access to emergency treatment. Employers need to know what support they need, they need to know what it costs, and they need to make sure they have enough budget to fund it.
Sarah Dennis explains: “It can be difficult to keep track of employee benefits spend when a company has employees in different countries around the world. There will be the different locations to factor, and different arrangements in each of these varying countries. Companies may use local benefits providers in some locations and global benefits providers in others. If a company has expanded quickly, it can prove hard to keep on top of things, but it’s vital that they do.”
Increasing costs
The costs for health and wellbeing support abroad have increased significantly recently, along with the increase in cost of living and costs of running a business, which is having an impact on a global basis. Spend can escalate if it is not managed and it is very difficult to negotiate if the employer does not know their starting point.
Sarah Dennis concludes: “It is clear that employers need help in taking control of their benefits’ spend on overseas employees. Expert guidance will help them to ensure they have the right support in place for employees and that they are getting good value for money.”
- Research conducted by Opinium on behalf of Towergate Employee Benefits among 500 HR decision makers across the UK from 7 to 16 January 2025.
For more information please contact:
Georgina Dunlop
SMUK Marketing and PR
gdunlop@smuk.org.uk
Mob: 07912 178156
Sarah Dennis
Head of International, Towergate Employee Benefits
sarah.dennis@towergate.co.uk
Mob: +44 (0) 7467220043
About Towergate Employee Benefits
Towergate Employee Benefits is one of the UK’s largest independent employee benefits advisers, dedicated to delivering tailored solutions to employers and their employees. The company aims to help employers attract, retain and engage the very best talent, resulting in a healthy, motivated and productive workforce.
Specialist advice and solutions from Towergate Employee Benefits include healthcare benefits - such as private medical insurance, cash plans, dental insurance and employee assistance programmes; financial benefits - such as group income protection, group critical illness and life insurance; and additional services such as wellbeing, occupational health and pensions governance, as well as award-winning benefits technology.
For global companies, Towergate Employee Benefits offers international private medical insurance, travel insurance, global employee assistance programmes and kidnap and ransom cover; as well as the expertise to manage comprehensive global benefits programmes. Through a worldwide network of partner firms, Towergate Employee Benefits can deliver tailored global benefit design and governance, ensuring business are supported wherever they operate.
Towergate Employee Benefits has a nationwide team of specialist advisers with a commitment to service that has been recognised as gold in its accreditation by Investor in Customers. For further information please visit www.towergatehealthandprotection.co.uk/