Job ads show what employers are willing to promise in writing. We analyzed 190,000 open job postings from direct employers in 29 countries in Europe and North America. The goal was to see which employee benefits employers advertise in each country, how many office days "hybrid" means, and whether more benefits come with lower pay. We also compared what benefits cost employers per month in the US and the EU.
Which employee benefits do employers offer by country?
Office days in hybrid job ads
Pay in job ads with 3+ benefits
Hybrid ads that state office days
Hybrid work: three days in the office is the norm
Employers present hybrid work and other forms of flexible working as a benefit. In Europe, 54% of hybrid job ads with a "what we offer" section list hybrid or remote work in it. In Germany, the share is 69%, and in the US it is 24%.
Few ads say what hybrid means in practice. Only 10% of hybrid job ads in Europe and 12% in the US state the number of office days. Where they do, three days is the norm.
- Three days in 56% of these ads in Europe and 60% in the US.
- Two days in 28% in Europe and 16% in the US.
- Four or five days in 13% in Europe and 23% in the US. In US finance, the share is 48%.
Switzerland (79%), Sweden (74%) and Italy (73%) have the highest share of three-day requirements. Portugal and Belgium are the most flexible: about half of their hybrid ads with a day count ask for one or two days. France stands out at the other end, with 19% of such ads asking for four or five days.
Signature employee benefits by country
Each country has benefits that its employers mention far more often than employers elsewhere. The chart shows the share of employers in our sample that mention each benefit in their job ads.
- Poland: Multisport card. A sports card that gives access to gyms and pools, usually co-funded by the employer.
- Hungary: "cafeteria". An annual budget that employees split between benefits of their choice.
- Czech Republic: sick days. Paid days off for minor illness without a doctor's note.
- Germany: bike leasing. Bikes leased through the employer. Another 11.5% of German employers offer a subsidized public transport pass, often the nationwide Deutschlandticket.
- Sweden: wellness allowance. The friskvårdsbidrag, a tax-free allowance for sports and health.
- France: RTT days. Extra days off for employees whose working week exceeds 35 hours.
- Lithuania: pet-friendly offices. One in ten employers in our sample invites employees to bring their pets.
- Netherlands: Friday drinks. The borrel, after-work drinks with colleagues, appears in the list of benefits.
- Spain: jornada intensiva. A shorter working day on Fridays and in summer, often ending in the early afternoon.
- United States: pet insurance. US job ads mention it three times as often as unlimited paid time off (3.6% and 1.2%). Where US job ads state paid vacation, the median is 15 days. In Germany, it is 30.
Health benefits also differ by region. Mental health support appears in 11% of job ads in the US and 13% in the UK. Sports cards and gym memberships lead in Central Europe: 26% of job ads in the Czech Republic, 24% in Poland and 15% in Germany.
Do employee benefits replace salary?
A common belief is that employers offer benefits instead of higher pay. Job ads show the opposite, both between and within countries.
Between countries. We counted how many of 12 common benefits an average job ad mentions. We then compared pay for the same role and seniority with the European median. US job ads mention 1.01 of these benefits on average and pay 96% more than the European median for the same work. Spanish job ads mention 0.33 and pay 30% less. Across 13 countries, the correlation is 0.72.
Within a country. In Europe, job ads with three or more benefits pay 7% more than ads with none, for the same role and seniority in the same country. This is based on 28,800 job ads with a base salary. In the US, there is no difference: +0.5% across 3,000 job ads.
Snacks, fruit and table tennis do not change the picture either. Job ads that mention such perks pay 3% less than comparable ads in Europe and 4% more in the US.
Lithuania and Poland are the exceptions. Their job ads mention almost as many benefits as German ones (0.70 and 0.63, against 0.72), while pay is at or below the European median (-10% and 0%).
How much employee benefits cost per month
In the US, private employers spent $14.07 per hour worked on benefits in June 2026, or 30% of total compensation, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For a full-time employee, that is about $2,400 per month. The total includes paid leave ($3.54 per hour), bonuses and other supplemental pay ($1.88), insurance ($3.69), retirement plans ($1.57) and legally required contributions ($3.40).
In the EU, employers paid €8.6 per hour on top of wages and salaries in 2025, or 24.8% of labor costs, according to Eurostat. That is about €1,500 per month for a full-time employee. Most of it consists of mandatory social contributions.
The two totals are not directly comparable, because EU statistics count paid leave and bonuses as part of wages. Without them, US employers pay $8.66 per hour, or about $1,500 per month, for insurance, retirement and legally required contributions. Employers in both regions pay a similar amount on top of wages. In the US, most of it goes to company benefits. In the EU, most of it goes to public health and pension systems. Our glossary explains how to calculate the cost of benefits per employee for your company.
What this means for HR teams
- State the number of office days. Only 1 in 10 hybrid job ads does, and three days is what most employers mean.
- Put a figure on benefits. A budget, a number of extra days off or a pension contribution rate gives candidates more information than a list of perks.
- Compare with local practice. A sports card is common in Poland and the Czech Republic, bike leasing in Germany and RTT days in France.
- Do not use perks to offset pay. In most countries, job ads with more benefits also offer higher pay.
- Check what local law already provides. Parental leave and, in several countries, extra monthly salaries are set by law or collective agreements, so they rarely set an offer apart.
Employee benefits by country: common questions
How many days a week is hybrid work?
In job ads that state the number, hybrid work most often means three days in the office: 56% of such ads in Europe and 60% in the US. Two days appear in 28% and 16%. Only about 1 in 10 hybrid job ads states the number of days.
What are the most common employee benefits in Europe?
Across the 27 European countries in our sample, job ads most often mention health insurance (12%), pension plans (9%), sports cards or gym memberships (6%) and meal allowances (5%). In the US, retirement plans lead with 49% of job ads, followed by parental leave and health insurance at 15% each.
Do companies with more benefits pay less?
No. In Europe, job ads with three or more benefits pay 7% more than ads with none for the same role and seniority. In the US, there is no difference. Between countries, those whose job ads mention more benefits also pay more. Lithuania and Poland are the exceptions.
How much do employee benefits cost employers per month?
In the US, private employers spent $14.07 per hour worked on benefits in June 2026, about $2,400 per month for a full-time employee. In the EU, employers paid €8.6 per hour on top of wages in 2025, about €1,500 per month, mostly as mandatory social contributions.
Which countries have the most unusual employee benefits?
In our sample, the most distinctive ones are shorter Fridays and summers in Spain and sick days without a doctor's note in the Czech Republic. Others include a "cafeteria" benefits budget in Hungary, Friday drinks in the Netherlands, pet-friendly offices in Lithuania and pet insurance in the US.
Methodology and sources
Job postings. SkaiJobs, our index of job postings, held about 1 million open postings from direct employers in the 29 countries on November 12, 2026. Staffing agencies are excluded. We analyzed the texts of 190,557 postings:
- Hybrid work: all 83,761 open hybrid postings in Europe, including the UK, and all 51,875 in the US. The number of office days was found in 8,602 European and 6,247 US postings. Formats such as "60% of the time" or "Tuesday to Thursday" are not counted. Country figures cover countries with at least 100 postings that state the number of days.
- Benefits by country: a random sample of up to 1,500 postings per country, 37,626 in total. Shares in the country chart are calculated per employer, so that one employer's template does not count many times. We checked samples of matches by hand.
- Pay: 31,864 postings with a base salary. Each posting was compared with the median pay for the same role and seniority in the same country. Country pay levels compare these medians with the European median.
Job ads show what employers choose to advertise, not everything they provide. In much of the EU, parental leave and extra monthly salaries are set by law or collective agreements, so job ads rarely mention them. In the US, mental health support is often part of health insurance.
Benefit costs. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026, private industry. Eurostat, labour cost levels (lc_lci_lev), 2025, EU27, business economy excluding public administration. Monthly figures assume 40 hours a week.