A survey by the consultancy WTW on Flexible Benefits for 2025 shows that 62% of companies in Portugal have already implemented plans of this type, while 16% are considering moving forward with them, reflecting a clear change in compensation policies within the corporate fabric.
The study, which brought together around 80 participants — mostly multinationals and companies with more than 200 employees — offers a snapshot mainly of the more structured corporate segment.
Among the barriers highlighted by organizations that have not yet adopted these programs, financial costs and fiscal and legal uncertainty stand out.
Ana Amado, Head of Benefits from WTW Portugal, highlights the transformation in workers’ expectations, stating that “flexibility is no longer just a trend — it’s an expectation. And the challenge now is to find simple, efficient solutions that are also adaptable”.
On the other hand, plan management is largely externalized, as 34% of companies use dedicated external platforms, 11% manage them internally without specific tools and only 4% have developed their own solutions. When choosing partners, companies value above all the variety of benefits (82%), the possibility of customization (63%), the price (61%) and customer support (59%).
Social vouchers are the most offered benefit (84%), but Health Insurance leads employee preferences (78%) and is also one of the benefits most present in packages (78%). Life Insurance is the least valued, which the report associates with low levels of financial literacy and risk in the population. Benefits linked to home office and technology maintain a good position in both supply and valuation, reflecting the impact of hybrid work.
The plans are mainly financed via variable salary (54%), followed by a fixed amount per employee (23%) and percentage of salary (20%).
Regarding the breadth of the offer, 37% of companies provide between one and five benefits, 37% between six and ten and 26% more than ten benefits. The most common annual value attributed per employee is between 1,001 and 5,000 euros.
In terms of accessibility, 51% of companies allow a single annual opening of the plan, while 33% offer 12 openings, allowing monthly choices.
The 2025 Flexible Benefits Survey points to a consolidation of these programs in Portuguese companies, especially among large groups and multinationals, and highlights the need for simple, customizable and fiscally clear solutions to accelerate adoption in smaller companies.