Fertility Benefits In The Workplace: The Great Confrontation And The Quest For Top Talent

Aligning with DEI and ESG principles to attract top talent

Several major publications have recently released stories about benefits policies. This publicity isn’t necessarily for good reasons. For example, in January, Twitter CEO Elon Musk made headlines when he slashed the company’s benefits package, eradicating fertility benefits like in vitro fertilization (IVF), adoption sponsorship, and egg freezing. Hundreds of Twitter employees who previously relied on financial assistance to access fertility services were left to pick up the pieces.

The war on benefits doesn't stop at Twitter. Why are these offerings the first victims of downsizing during challenging economic times? The answer to this question is nuanced and complicated — just as complex as the history of benefits in the workplace. For many, it boils down to the perception that certain benefits are nice to offer but not a must-have.

Until recently, many decision-makers regarded fertility and other family-building solutions as fringe benefits. However, the last decade has transformed the workforce. Countless employees have adopted a new view on work-life balance and productivity, leading to updated expectations for human resources (HR) departments. Now, when an employer misses the mark, employees are far more willing to quit and find better accommodations. Some may call this the Great Resignation; I refer to it as the Great Confrontation.  

Top talent is a hot commodity, and employees are willing to consider better offers. Yet that also means current employees could choose to leave under the right circumstances. HR leaders must balance attracting external talent and incentivizing top performers to stay. SHRM estimates the cost of replacing an employee is up to 200% of the departing employee’s salary, making it easy to understand why retention is a top priority across all organizations. And companies with a strong diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategy typically outperform those without in terms of revenue, market share, and retention.

Many factors contribute to a positive and meaningful work environment. However, impactful incentives like family-building benefits are singular in their ability to make an outsized difference in the decisions of prospective and current employees. Here is why yesterday's “nice-to-have benefits” have become so mission-critical for both retaining employees and supporting the company’s overall growth and profitability.

Quality Reproductive Care Is Life-Changing

Benefits have an indelible effect on employees’ lives. We understand this in the context of traditional offerings like healthcare insurance because, at one point or another, we’ve all relied on these solutions to pay for a steep medical bill or provide a loved one with a check-up or surgical procedure. Now, consider that infertility in the U.S. outpaces chronic disease and maternal mortality rates in all other industrialized nations.

When do women typically leave the workplace? When they have a baby or when they reach menopause. If you aren’t supporting women at these key moments in their professional careers, ask yourself: Is your DEI strategy robust enough?

From reproductive healthcare options to hormone replacement therapy, family-building benefits can change lives and significantly impact retention for critical members of your workforce. For example, a woman is 50% more likely to quit her job after having a baby if she has to pay for fertility treatments out of pocket. However, when the organization covers fertility treatments, she is 88% more likely to return to work.

And how do traditional healthcare plans support Black employees? Not only are Black women two times more likely to experience infertility, they are three times more likely to die from childbirth-related complications compared to White mothers. To address the complications of childbirth for BIPOC members, look no further than doula care. High-quality and culturally sensitive doula care is proven to improve pregnancy outcomes for expectant Black mothers. This is evidenced by a reduction in the number of C-sections rendered, an increased percentage of full-term births, and lower rates of postpartum depression.

Family-building benefits provide birthing persons access to this high-quality and life-changing — even life-saving — care. Without their employer's benefits package, many birthing persons would often not have access to doula care (or other reproductive offerings like postpartum care and back-to-work coaching).

That is because, unfortunately, the costs associated with some family-building solutions place them out of the reach of employees paying out-of-pocket. Consequently, vital but non-medically necessary options like fertility therapy are ignored. Birthing persons — and their partner, if relevant — experience higher rates of isolation, depression, and anxiety as a result.

On the other hand, employees with access to family-building benefits are healthier, happier, and more productive. These employees also experience less stress related to financial burden, which remains a leading cause of workplace anxiety. By providing these offerings, employers alleviate their employees’ concerns related to family, health, and finances, allowing them to satisfy and exceed their daily responsibilities.

Benefits Must Evolve to Meet the Needs of the Modern Workforce

Times are changing. On a micro-scale, we've witnessed a shift toward operations-focused expenditures in response to inflation and rising interest rates. But on a macro level, much more significant changes have occurred in our daily working environments. The eldest of Gen Zers have entered the workforce. Beyond that, many organizations have chosen to align with new and improved environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles because the economic data shows that’s good business.

Simultaneously, young professionals overwhelmingly value their organization based on commitments to DEI and ESG. In fact, 76% of job seekers say workplace diversity is integral to their decision to take a job. And many of these prospective applicants seek genuine commitments to an inclusive workplace instead of workplace platitudes. The result? Workplaces creating an equitable environment for all employees will win out in the search for top talent.

Notably, many family-building solutions are relevant for diverse populations. For example, although single parents and straight couples frequently use IVF treatments, it's an especially vital offering for LGTBQ+ individuals. More than half of LGTBQ+ millennials (63%) plan to have children with the help of assisted reproductive technologies. Other popular forms of conception for LGBTQ+ individuals include surrogacy and adoption, also covered by leading family-building programs.

Many of us, not to mention many of our colleagues and friends, belong to the LGBTQ+ community. Yet traditional benefit offerings have lagged in accommodating LGBTQ+ parental journeys. Consider that the average IVF cycle costs more than $30,000, and most parents-to-be require multiple cycles to become pregnant. This creates an undue financial burden on all employees undergoing IVF.

The price tag of IVF treatments is enough to dissuade prospective applicants from accepting an offer at an organization without family-building benefits. Organizations that refrain from offering these benefits foster a less inclusive environment where employees feel unheard and undervalued — especially diverse employees. And in the modern workforce, this environment is unacceptable.

Moreover, family-building solutions go a long way toward alleviating environmental and sociological factors that influence employees’ well-being and health. These factors, known as the social determinants of health (SDoH), include environmental surroundings like neighborhood and social/community context as well as social factors like economic stability and access to education. By making an effort to understand their employees’ distinctive SDoH, employers can provide a more beneficial and tailored benefits package that allows employees of all backgrounds to enjoy equitable access to healthcare.

How to Select Benefits that Reflect Well on Your Organization

Keep your organization's HR offerings from making news for the wrong reasons. Slashing or neglecting family-building benefits is a genuinely fatal error. After all, consolidated coverage platforms for family-building offerings offset the coverage costs for employers, which can actually lower benefit costs over time.

When considering which suite of benefits to offer your employees, use your organization’s ESG and DEI targets as a guiding light. Doing so will ensure that your benefits package aligns with the organization’s mission and caters to the preferences of current and future employees.

It’s also critical to consider organization-specific factors. For example, fully remote offices may benefit from geographically non-specific benefits like travel reimbursement, which covers the costs of travel to medical services located outside their jurisdiction.

The key to success with benefits is to offer comprehensive solutions that allow your employees to be seen, heard, and understood. In 2023, that undoubtedly includes family-building solutions. And do not let competitors fool you — organizations that drop family-building solutions are falling behind in inclusivity. As a result, they're losing the highly competitive race for top talent. And that's a cultural loss that will be difficult to rebuild.

Liz Pittinger is the Head of Customer Success at Stork Club.