Manojna Addipatla

(Reuters] – Numerous U.S. corporations are seeking to make employees feel valued by offering perks, such as free delivery to their homes and subsidized furniture. This is in response to the demands of remote work.

According to preliminary results of a survey that involved 1,502 people, one in five employers has such plans for the next year. The study was done by Mercer employee benefits consultancy.

Due to COVID-19, the majority of remote workers are now looking for alternatives such as at-home healthy food options in cafeterias or on-site gyms. This is what the survey of employers-sponsored health plans revealed.

PwC (NYSE: Twitter) and Twitter (NYSE 🙂 have both stated they would let some U.S. employees work remotely and can live wherever they like. Some have delayed the reopening of offices.

Virtual cooking, exercising, yoga, classes, apps for relaxation, etc. can be expensive for each employee. Beth Umland is the director of health benefits research at Mercer. Elissa Rosenbaum is principal in Mercer’s business.

According to the survey, one of the four respondents said that virtual care was being promoted by their employers for those who live in rural areas. The use of Telehealth Services from Companies such as Teladoc Health Inc (NYSE: Health Inc) soared during the last year’s pandemic.

Respondents with at least 500 employees indicated that addressing mental and/or emotional health issues will be a major priority for them over the next 3-5 year period. This is compared to just 44% who said it was in Mercer’s 2019 survey.

A third of respondents offered virtual healthcare to their employees, many times through programs provided by companies like Ginger. Another 21% stated that they would consider it.