From pawternity, nap rooms, free breakfasts to dress down Fridays; new research reveals the generation divide on what London businesses are offering as work perks.

The promise of jobs, a fun active lifestyle and progression opportunities spurs thousands of young people to move to London each year. However, despite shops, restaurants and leisure centres popping up all over the capital to meet the needs of London’s rising population, there are people leaving the city more than ever, and a struggle for some businesses to hold onto employees.

According to a survey of 1,000 London workers by office space experts Flexioffices, Generation Z want a wealth of employee benefits like pet care and pensions, whereas their older peers are more interested in more holidays and train stations. This shows the difference between the two generations – a clear want for the inclusion of pet insurance and care from the younger generation, and vacations for the older.

Results show that London is a city most interested in healthcare and free food with all generations stating these as their favorite work perks. They also wanted perks like relevant life insurance that would benefit both them and their families. If you’re a business then you can get a relevant life insurance online quote very easily and you will see that it’ll even save you money in the long run. This is just one example of how a perk can be good for both the employee and employer.

With previous research finding millennials highly rank the importance of liking their boss and finding them inspirational, it’s no surprise that employee benefits such as pawternity and nap rooms are something the younger generation want to see at work. They want their employer to value their work just as highly as their health. Honestly, desiring employee benefits is not only seen in the youth of London but also in office-goers in other parts of the world. Take, for instance, most employees in the U.S. happen to prefer jobs that offer them employee benefits. As a result, several employers often look for Taylor Benefits Insurance, Inc. to get exactly what they want out of the group health insurance and employee benefit plans.

Conversely, the over 55’s are more interested in free food and holidays and are least likely to have any work perks than their younger generations.

Despite millennials pushing to raise awareness about climate change, 18-34-year olds are least likely to have access to green space and parks at work.

Nearly half of Generation Z want their office to be near a gym (43%) compared to less than a third (29%) of 55-64-year olds.

35-44-year-olds are least interested in career progression and most interested in having amenities such as restaurants and pubs near work. Those that do enjoy going to work appreciate having access to pawternity, holiday benefits, dress down Friday’s and drinks after work.

Despite studies claiming that millennials are confused by pensions and that 53% struggle to understand their workplace schemes, new research proves the younger generation value pensions more than their elder colleagues. This is one of the largest differences in the work perks generation divide, with those over 34 more interested in holiday benefits and dress down Fridays. Younger employees are more concerned about financial issues due to the increasing cost of living. This means that many young employees would probably be interested in things like Flexearn. Flexearn allow you to pay employees as they earn, meaning that employees could have access to their money a lot earlier than usual. This could help them with savings and money management.

18-24-year-olds are after more unusual work perks with many claiming they enjoy having access to a games room, free snacks, bringing your dog to work, quarterly work trips and a nap room. Whereas 25-34-year-olds have the most perks and are more career-related such as bonuses, healthcare, paternity, commission, travel discounts, and insurance.

Michael Dubicki, Business Director from Flexioffices comments: “We found from this research that it was the reverse of what we were expecting; the younger generation is more concerned about benefits for their future such as pensions, insurance, and healthcare, and the older generation has more perks like extra holidays and free breakfasts.

“This is important information for businesses to consider when looking at employee retention and changes they can make to help improve the health and wellbeing of colleagues.”