Workplace Benefits Report | PensionBee (US)

Retirement benefits are often focused on attracting and retaining talent, but employee exits may be an untapped opportunity. PensionBee’s The Workplace Benefits Report: The Generational Guidance Gap found a disconnect between onboarding and offboarding support, highlighting how a stronger offboarding experience can improve participant outcomes, simplify plan administration, and enhance employer reputation.

Why Forgotten Accounts Matter to Plan Sponsors and Advisors

Dormant and small-balance accounts can create operational complexity. Former employee accounts may increase recordkeeping burdens, add to participant search efforts, and create ongoing administrative inefficiencies.

At the same time, these accounts represent a missed opportunity to improve participant outcomes. When participants lose track of retirement savings, they may end up with fragmented balances and lower retirement readiness.

This is where structured offboarding processes can create value.

Rather than treating employee departures as an HR event, sponsors and advisors should view offboarding as an extension of fiduciary process and participant support.

Employees Expect More Guidance Than Employers May Realize

PensionBee surveyed 1,000 U.S. workers and found that workplace retirement plans have become central to how people think about their financial future. For many workers, these plans aren't just a nice-to-have benefit tucked into a job offer. They've become a core piece of financial planning, and for a significant share of employees, their sense of financial security rests directly on it.

That reliance is especially pronounced among younger workers. Millennials and Gen Z are more willing than Baby Boomers to trade pay for peace of mind, a sign that workplace support and stability weigh more heavily on their decisions than salary alone.

Given how much weight workers place on these plans, it's no surprise they also expect employers to help them navigate related decisions. A large majority of Americans (92%) say employers are responsible, at least in part, for helping employees make informed benefits decisions. For more than one-third, that responsibility isn't partial at all. They believe employers should take full ownership of guiding employees toward the right outcomes.

Participants aren't just evaluating retirement benefits on plan features and investment choices anymore. They're also judging employers by how well they support major financial transitions. That judgment follows employers well past the employee's last day. Plan sponsors and advisors can't afford to overlook this shift.

The Retirement Decision Point Employers Often Underestimate

One of the report's clearest findings is that support drops off right when employees need it most, during offboarding. While 71% of employees felt their benefits were explained clearly during onboarding, only about half said they received communication of the same quality when leaving the company.

That gap matters because leaving an employer is often the exact moment participants must make complex decisions about their retirement savings. Former employees generally face four options:

Leave assets in the former employer's plan
Roll assets into a new employer's plan
Roll assets into an IRA
Take a cash distribution

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Without clear guidance at this stage, participants tend to default into whatever option requires the least immediate effort, even when it isn't the best one for their long-term savings.

PensionBee's findings suggest communication quality has a real, measurable effect on retirement outcomes. Employees who received strong offboarding support were significantly more likely to complete a rollover, while those who received weak or no guidance were more than four times as likely to lose track of their retirement account.

That disconnect creates challenges not only for participants but also for plan sponsors and advisors.

Investing involves risk.‍This post, and any associated customer testimonial or third party endorsement, is provided solely for informational and educational purposes, should not be taken as tax, legal, financial or investment advice and is not an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy or sell any securities or investments. ‍Disclaimer‍

The Problem with Automatic Rollovers

What PensionBee’s Workplace Benefits Report Reveals About Your Company’s Future

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Summary

PensionBee's new report reveals a gap between onboarding and offboarding support. Learn what it means for plan administration and automatic rollovers.

Why Forgotten Accounts Matter to Plan Sponsors and Advisors

Employees Expect More Guidance Than Employers May Realize

The Retirement Decision Point Employers Often Underestimate

Ready to clean up your small-balance accounts and protect your former employees?

Reducing Administrative Burdens Through Better Offboarding Strategies

Turning Offboarding Into a Streamlined Process

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