Salary alone no longer sets you apart. HR managers and comp & ben specialists feel it every day: in job interviews, retention conversations, and exit discussions.
The 2025 data gives that feeling new weight. The number of Belgian employers offering a cafeteria plan grew by 40%. More than 150,000 employees now benefit from one, a 30% increase on 2024. And 80% of them actively updated their choices last year.
What does this tell us about what employees really want? And how do you translate that as an HR team into a more attractive compensation package? Here is what the data shows.
Employees choose actively, when you give them the chance
80% of employees with a cafeteria plan changed their selections in 2025. They are genuinely engaged with their own remuneration.
Offering a cafeteria plan gives employees something they rarely find elsewhere: real choice within their package. They decide for themselves whether to go for a bike lease, a smartphone upgrade, or extra leave days. That autonomy has a direct impact on satisfaction and on staff turnover.
The system works, but only if you offer it. Every employee without a plan has no choice at all. And that shows: in exit interviews, in market benchmarks, in conversations with candidates who already enjoy a cafeteria plan at a competitor.
What employees actually choose when they can
The top 5 most-chosen benefits in 2025, based on the SD Worx analysis of 500+ employers and 150,000+ employees:
- multimedia equipment: smartphones, laptops, tablets (20%)
- pension savings (18%)
- additional leave days (15%)
- bike (~15%, biggest riser: +10%)
- hospitalisation insurance (12%)
The bike is the most striking shift. Once an employer offers bike leasing, 1 in 7 employees chooses it. And the company car is losing ground: popular in 2024, it dropped out of the top 5 for large organisations in 2025.
This shift matters for your package strategy. Employees want mobility options, financial security, and personal choice. Not a one-size-fits-all package.
The business case: flexible remuneration as a recruitment advantage
For many organisations, the cafeteria plan is no longer just an HR tool. It is a strategic asset in the competition for talent. And that competition plays out in smaller organisations too.
The number of SME employers (fewer than 250 employees) offering a cafeteria plan grew by 59%, almost double the growth rate of large organisations (30%). SMEs that are still hesitating are falling behind their competitors in attracting talent.
Smaller organisations are finding it perfectly achievable to roll out a fully-fledged cafeteria plan. Options such as bike leasing, public transport reimbursement, and smartphone upgrades are consistently highlighted as genuine advantages. And that is increasingly visible in job interviews, where flexibility and freedom of choice play a decisive role.
Three well-chosen benefits can already be enough to tip the balance. The barrier to entry is far lower than most HR teams assume.
Learn more about the cafeteria plan
How to manage it without overloading your HR team
A cafeteria plan is only an asset if it does not overwhelm your team. The complexity is not in the plan itself. It is in the follow-up, when everything is built on manual processes.
Three principles keep it manageable:
- set clear parameters: which budget, which benefits, which windows for making changes
- automate payroll exports and reporting: manual follow-up does not scale as your plan grows
- communicate actively at every selection window: employees who do not know they can choose, do not choose
A well-configured system reduces the HR workload. The risk of losing talent because of an unattractive package costs more than the investment in a structured plan.
Checklist: how to make your compensation package more attractive
- review what employees raise in exit interviews and job applications
- select 3 to 5 benefits that match your workforce profile and sector
- set a clear budget per employee or job category
- introduce an annual review window so employees can update their choices
- use a central system with automatic payroll export and consolidated reporting
- communicate the plan actively: at onboarding, during appraisals, at every selection window
- benchmark your package regularly against the market: 59% of SMEs are already moving
Conclusion
The 2025 data is clear: a cafeteria plan makes your compensation package more attractive, whether you have 15 or 1,500 employees. Employees who have a choice engage with it. And they stay longer. Monizze helps you build and manage that package without adding pressure to your HR team.
