Nearly two thirds of UK employees say a good benefits package is the most important thing they look for in employment.
As cost pressures persist, food discounts and practical everyday savings are becoming more meaningful to West Midlands employees than high-gloss perks
The gap between employer-offered perks and the support employees actually value is getting harder to ignore across the West Midlands, where businesses are under growing pressure to ensure their benefits feel practical, visible and relevant to everyday spending. According to tastecard, the UK’s largest dining and lifestyle savings platform, employee expectations are moving away from more aspirational perks and towards everyday value, with food, coffee and hospitality savings becoming more meaningful markers of support. That shift is becoming harder for employers to dismiss, as leading discount and loyalty provider tastecard notes a broader move from “benefits to basics”, where the most effective employee perks are no longer those that appear the most impressive, but those that are easiest to access and most relevant to everyday life. With 62% of employees now saying a good benefits package is the most important thing they look for in employment, 71% of employers expect to change their offerings to become more day-to-day focused.
As household budgets remain under pressure, the benefits employees notice most are increasingly the ones that reduce everyday spending rather than those positioned as occasional extras. With 89% saying financial stress has affected them at work, the link between cost pressure, productivity and day-to-day employee sentiment is becoming harder to ignore. That is especially visible around food and hospitality, with nearly 38% of diners eating out less than they were a year ago because of rising costs and the need to save money. For employers, the implication is clear: benefits tied to regular habits, such as meals out, coffee breaks and everyday social occasions, are becoming more visible, more valued and more likely to be used consistently.
The shift is particularly relevant at a time when businesses are under pressure to demonstrate care, relevance and flexibility without necessarily increasing salary costs. In that environment, employee perks that support discretionary spending and make daily life feel more manageable can play a more important role in how employers are perceived internally.
As businesses review their reward strategies for the months ahead, tastecard says the most important question is no longer whether benefits are offered, but whether they are relevant, visible and genuinely useful. In a more cost-conscious environment, everyday value is increasingly what employees remember.
About tastecard
tastecard is the UK’s leading dining and lifestyle savings platform, helping members save on meals out, coffee, takeaways, days out and more. Often provided through employee benefits schemes, loyalty programmes and financial services partnerships, tastecard supports businesses in delivering practical, high-frequency value that fits into everyday life.
