A SURVEY REPORT

The Changing Landscape of Employee Benefits in Life Sciences in 2024

A survey of global and regional mid-sized life sciences companies

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

ABOUT THIS SURVEY

Over the past few years, the life sciences industry has seen a lot of change. Birch Benefits and The O’Connor Group surveyed 51 life sciences companies to see what’s changed in their benefits packages since the last time this survey was conducted in 2022.

Let’s take a look.

Health Plan Basics

Here’s a snapshot of what life sciences are offering in 2024.

20%

offer 5+ plans—a number that nearly doubled since 2022

98%

of companies offer medical benefits

27%

of employers self-fund their benefits, including captive and consortium plans

most-USED carriers

Independence Blue Cross, Aetna, UnitedHealthcare and CignA

Top Voluntary Benefits in 2024

Similar to 2022, the most commonly offered supplemental benefits in 2024 are related to mental health and wellness.

Supplemental benefits provided in the past year
COST CONTAINMENT 
STRATEGIES
% of respondents

Cost Containment Strategies: 2024 vs. 2022

Companies plan on exploring different cost containment strategies for their upcoming renewal.

Funding Arrangements: 2024 vs. 2022

Since 2022, alternative funding arrangements grew in popularity.

Funding arrangements
% of respondents

The number of partial or self-funded companies increased by 24%.

MANAGING RX COSTS
% of respondents

Managing Rx Costs

Rising pharmacy costs are a big concern in 2024, so companies are implementing various strategies to help control them.

Evolving Family Benefits: Primary Leave

Companies are offering more generous family leave policies in 2024.

PAID MATERNITY/PRIMARY LEAVE POLICIES
% of respondents

The number of companies offering 8+ weeks of paid leave rose from 33% in 2022 to 44% in 2024.

PAID secondary LEAVE POLICIES
% of respondents

Evolving Family Benefits: Secondary Leave

The number of companies offering more robust secondary leave policies also grew.

Just two years after our last survey, the percentage of companies offering secondary leave policies grew from 52% in 2022 to 88% in 2024
—a 36% increase.

The Current Office Landscape

Most companies are moving back into the office; very few are fully remote.

How frequently companies expect their employees to be present in the office

Anticipated Challenges in the New Year

Companies’ top HR challenges and priorities for 2024 are:

1
Retention and engagement
2
RETURN TO OFFICE PLANS
3
COST CONTAINMENT

THIS IS A SHIFT FROM 2022, WHEN TOP CHALLENGES 
INCLUDED:

1
Recruiting talent in a competitive market
2
Offering benefits to stay competitive with the larger industry

How do your benefits stack up?

Want to talk to an expert? Birch Benefits and The O’Connor Group are here for you.

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