Do companies plan to reduce employee benefits in 2014 to help manage health care costs? Some do. Most won’t, at least at this time, according to Baking & Snack’s annual capital spending survey. In fact, 22% of bakers plan to reduce benefits while 64% said they would not cut them and 14% were not sure. Not surprisingly, a greater share (29%) of smaller companies (annual revenues under $25 million) plan to slice benefits than larger ones (19%).
As the result of Obamacare, 9% of those surveyed are replacing full-time workers with part-timers, and 8% are hiring temporary workers for full-time positions. The majority, 53%, replied Affordable Care Act (A.C.A.) will not affect hiring plans while 30% said they were “not sure,” signaling uncertainty about the impact of health care reform. Additionally, the survey allowed comments on the new health care requirements.