Benefits on both sides. How important it is for employers to offer more than the fixed salary
From medical subscriptions to extra days off, transport settlement or cultural vouchers – these are all benefits that companies can offer. Their purpose? To increase employee motivation and, at the same time, productivity. Lately, there has been a shift from classic benefits to flexible ones, which employees can choose according to their needs. Beyond the category they belong to, they should represent the norm on the labor market, experts say. “I think you can't afford not to offer certain benefits“, draws the attention of Oana Botolan, expert in organizational consulting and HR strategy.
Happy employees are more productive PHOTO CPO Magazine
What are the additional benefits?
In an increasingly competitive labor market, salary is not the only thing that attracts and retains loyalty. Although they are called employee benefits, they actually bring benefits to both parties.
“In the end, all these efforts and costs that companies undertake are intended to bring increased comfort to employees, an increased level of motivation, so that retention is higher, and productivity, and results”explains Oana Botolan, expert in organizational consulting and HR strategy.
Research shows the same thing. A study published in 2025 by the AIDE Interdisciplinary Research Journal shows that high levels of workplace motivation are correlated with satisfaction with employer benefits and incentives, especially if they match their expectations and needs.
“I think you can't afford not to offer certain benefits. But this has been true since the first company in the world appeared. This need has always existed. Beyond the payment of amounts for the work performed, the benefits part is always a necessity. I don't think we can think of employers who don't cover anything at all, give a salary and that's it.” draws attention to Oana Botolan.
The most popular benefits
The HR strategy expert does not include meal vouchers in extra-salary benefits.
“After all, they are still a financial part of the compensation package, because it represents a sum of money”says Oana Botolan.
Medical subscriptions are the most popular, followed by health insurance. If they also include the dental part, they are even more appreciated, and some companies offer subscriptions or discounts for employees' family members as well.
A leading place among the most offered, but also desired benefits are those related to wellbeing.
“And here we are talking about the facilities at the workplace: that it is about the discounts at the surrounding restaurants, that it is about a canteen within the company, relaxation rooms, discounts on the company's products”explains Oana Botolan.
Extra days off (for personal or birthday reasons). they are also always welcome.
“In addition to these, there are also those additional vacation days, depending on seniority in the company. And there are many companies that offer. A pleasant number of days of vacation covered by the company can thus be reached,” says the expert in organizational consulting.
At the same time, some companies also offer subsidies for early education, in support of employees with children.
Study conducted in the IT industry. Flexible benefits, among the most desired
A study carried out by CTeam Human Capital in 2025 in the IT industry shows how long the list of benefits can be, but also the tendency of employers to turn to benefits anchored in the needs of employees.
“In the IT industry, with so much competition in the labor market, the benefits side has developed extremely, varied and inventive. More and more companies offer flexible benefits, precisely so that the employee can choose – within the same budget – the type of benefit that suits him best”. explains Oana Botolan.
Among the flexible benefits are gym memberships or cultural vouchers, with which they can buy books or tickets to performances.
40% of IT companies offer gym vouchers PHOTO Shutterstock
There are also “traditional” benefits:
,,We are talking about a company car or the total or partial coverage of transport expenses, that we are talking about subscriptions for public transport or ride sharing; the training part – both in the area of hard skills and in the area of soft skills – which can be considered a benefit, but which can also be included in the company's obligations -; subscriptions of all kinds, that is subscriptions to various online bookstores or online resources; participation in international conferences and events”.
And teambuildings have remained popular. In 2025, 30% of IT companies offered such exits to employees.
Money will always come first
Even if the benefits are very important, in the Romanian market, in the current economic context, ]in 2026, money is the one that will come first when it comes to employment, believes the HR expert.
“At a certain level of financial comfort, the differences in amount may be minimal and then the benefits really make the difference. (…) But there is little chance that they will accept an offer with a lower salary just because there are some interesting workshops, a nice cafe; all this will, of course, contribute to the well-being and motivation of employees, but the financial part remains at the bottom of the pyramid. Especially in the current conditions: increase in the cost of living, inflation, etc. says Oana Botolan.
