Top Industries That Provide Private Healthcare Benefits to Employees

A combination of the ever-increasing backlog of appointments, the additional new strain on NHS waiting times brought on by strikes, and the growing demand for access to services have meant many people have found it almost impossible to get access assistance with medical and mental health services and resources, regardless of the severity.

As a result, private healthcare benefits such as private medical insurance (PMI) have become an increasingly important priority for employees when they look for new roles. Google search trends have also revealed that searches around ‘private medical insurance’ have steadily increased over the past few years as it continues to be a priority for people.

Research from the British Medical Association (BMA) revealed before the pandemic and first wave of restrictions, in February 2020, there were already 4.43 million people on the waiting list for care. However, this has increased by a staggering 70% to 7.33 million. Over 360,000 patients have been waiting for over a year as the significant backlogs continue to grow.

As experts in employee benefits, we have already identified that PMI has seen a massive increase in demand, with our Bupa company PMI customers increasing the number of employees covered on their scheme by 6% on average in 2022.

Delving further into the trends around private healthcare benefits, we have analysed data from Indeed to assess which industries are more likely to offer private healthcare benefits as an employee perk.  

The industries more likely to offer private healthcare benefits

Analysing over 2,000 roles across 21 sectors on Indeed, our data shows roles within the Science & Research sector are more likely to offer private healthcare benefits than any other industry. Approximately 50% of advertised roles we analysed in Science & Research posted private healthcare as a benefit for employees.

The top 10 industries to offer private healthcare

Our analysis shows that the industries more likely to offer PMI as an employee benefit are also some of the highest-paid within the private sector. These include Architecture & Engineering, where 2 in 5 roles provide private healthcare; Legal, where it’s over a third (36%); and Finance & Accounting, at 31%.

Travel, Attractions & Events, which ranks second at almost half (47%) of roles with private healthcare benefits, is the only industry in the top 10 that falls into the travel and hospitality sector.  However, the roles offering it as a perk are predominately corporate roles.

The industries least likely to offer private healthcare

More hands-on industries, such as Farming, Fishing & Forestry, Repair & Maintenance, or Cleaning, are among the sectors least likely to offer private healthcare. Roles that fall into the hospitality and retail sector are also less likely to see this additional benefit provided by employers, with under a third (28%) of roles advertised within the Sales, Retail & Customer Support industry and only a fifth (22%) of positions advertised within the Food & Beverage industry offering private healthcare benefits.

Surprisingly, the healthcare industry was among the lowest rankings on the list, with only 16% of analysed roles advertising they offered healthcare of any kind to employees. 

Once considered a benefit reserved for senior employees, private healthcare/PMI benefits are now one of the most essential parts of an employer’s people management strategy, which helps keep their most valuable asset, their workforce, present, healthy and productive in the workplace.

Employers offering PMI can also benefit businesses, helping reduce both absenteeism and presenteeism costs. Employees with access to timely medical care are less likely to miss work due to illness or injury and more likely to be productive. This can result in cost savings for employers, as they avoid lost productivity and employee turnover.

By offering private healthcare benefits, such as PMI, employers also show their commitment to supporting their employees’ health and welfare, which can also result in increased job satisfaction. As more people pay closer attention to their mental and physical health and wellbeing, continued strain on the NHS, and, more recently, delays and strikes have meant employees experience more delays seeking the assistance and resources they need.

With the rise of remote and hybrid working regimes, the need for PMI has become even more important. Many employees who no longer commute every day are now more sedentary, which can lead to health issues such as back pain and other musculoskeletal (MSK) problems. These issues can be exacerbated by a lack of access to physical therapy and other medical services, which may have longer wait times due to the pandemic. Employers can help mitigate these issues by providing access to MSK services and other medical treatments and procedures that employees may need through access to PMI.

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Broadstone is in a prime position to support businesses implementing PMI for the first time or reviewing existing coverage. If you’re interested in discovering more about how you can safeguard your business against the dual threats posed by a deteriorating public health outlook and a fiercely competitive recruitment landscape, don’t hesitate to contact us. Please contact us to discuss the advantages and further information of providing your employees with PMI.

Methodology:

We ‘scraped’ indeed.co.uk, analysing job advertisements across 21 industries. Once collated, we then looked at which roles included the mention of ‘private medical insurance’, ‘private healthcare’ and both ‘private medical insurance and private healthcare’ to determine which industries are more likely to offer it as an employee benefit.