The estate agency sector has been ranked among the worst in the UK for workplace financial wellbeing, which leads to both lower workforce productivity and loyalty, claims Access PayWise+’s Abhishek Agrawal (pictured).

The findings come from a cross-sector study carried out by Access PayWise+, which is part of The Access Group, and is based on analysis of job adverts across 30 UK sectors. The research assessed more than 20 different financial wellbeing benefits listed in recent job advertisements.

Benefits were grouped into seven categories, covering financial compensation and pay enhancements, insurance and protection, lifestyle support, health and wellbeing, family and parental benefits, retirement and savings, and work-from-home flexibility.

tenth from bottom

Estate agency ranked tenth from the bottom overall and was placed in the lowest tier for five of the seven benefit categories assessed. Its weakest area was retirement and long-term financial support, with just 0.04% of estate agency job adverts mentioning any form of retirement or long-term savings benefits.

Work-from-home flexibility was the most common form of support offered within the sector, but even this appeared in only 12.66% of estate agency job adverts.

Across all the sectors analysed, fewer than 10% of job adverts included benefits from even the most common category – financial compensation and pay enhancements.

Estate agent companies offering limited financial wellbeing packages are likely to see lower workforce productivity and loyalty, as well as providing a less competitive offer for prospective talent.”

Education was found to offer the fewest financial wellbeing benefits overall, while the motoring and automotive sector ranked highest.

Commenting on the findings, Agrawal says: “Estate agent companies offering limited financial wellbeing packages are likely to see lower workforce productivity and loyalty, as well as providing a less competitive offer for prospective talent.

“Work from home is the most common form of financial support in the estate agency sector, but uptake still remains low at 12.66% in recent job ads, showing room for improvement across every benefit category.”