5 ways employee expectations around pensions and workplace savings are changing

Employees may be saving into a pension, but many are doing so with one nagging doubt: will it actually be enough?

Workplace pensions may be doing their core job, getting more people saving, but they are doing far less to reassure employees about what those savings will mean in retirement.

Drewberry’s Workplace Pensions Survey (2025) revealed that just 15% of employees say they truly understand how pensions work, while 57% do not know how much they need to save for a comfortable retirement. More striking still, 68% do not believe their current pension will be enough.

That uncertainty matters more than ever. With the revived Pensions Commission now examining why future pensioners are on course to be poorer than today’s, and with its interim report due this spring, the wider pensions debate is shifting from participation to adequacy, value and engagement.

With the Pension Schemes Bill in its final stages, that momentum is only likely to grow, with reforms designed to improve pension value, reduce fragmentation and help savers get more from their retirement pots.

For employers, that shift is already showing up in what employees want from workplace pensions and savings. They are no longer just looking for access to a pension scheme. They want clearer guidance, more visible value and support that reflects the reality of how people save now.

Here are five changes that are starting to reshape what employees want from pensions and workplace savings.

1. Employees want to know whether they are saving enough

For years, the big workplace pensions story was about auto-enrolment bringing more employees into saving. But being enrolled is not the same as feeling secure about retirement.

Drewberry’s survey suggests employees are becoming more outcome-focused. Many are relying on their workplace pension as their main source of income in retirement, yet over two-thirds do not believe it will be enough for a comfortable later life. That chimes with the wider shift in the pensions debate towards adequacy and long-term outcomes.

What HR and reward teams can do:

Shift pension communications beyond scheme basics and towards retirement outcomes
Help employees understand what current contribution levels may mean in practice, and whether they are on track

2. Employees want more guidance, not more jargon

Employees are not turning away from pensions. In many cases, they are trying to engage with them while feeling under-informed.

According to Drewberry, 72% of employees want more pension guidance from their employer. At the same time, 63% do not know where their current workplace pension is invested, and 52% want to learn more about salary exchange. With the FCA’s targeted support regime now live, the wider market is also moving towards more practical, decision-focused support.

What HR and reward teams can do:

Use clearer, plain English communications around contributions, salary exchange and retirement income
Review whether employees have access to practical tools, modelling and support, not just scheme literature

3. Employees are starting to connect pensions with short-term savings

For many employees, retirement saving does not sit in isolation. It competes with rent or mortgage costs, childcare, debt and the need for some kind of emergency buffer.

That is why workplace savings are starting to become a bigger part of the conversation. Emerging models such as sidecar savings are gaining attention because they allow employees to build accessible emergency savings through payroll while still supporting longer-term retirement saving. Nest Insight’s recent work points to the value of a more joined-up approach to emergency and retirement savings, rather than treating them as completely separate issues.

What HR and reward teams can do:

Consider whether workplace savings options could sit alongside pensions within a broader financial wellbeing strategy
Start exploring newer models, such as sidecar savings, as a way to support both resilience now and saving later

4. Employees expect more from employers

Minimum compliance still matters, but it is clearly no longer where expectations stop.

Drewberry found that 61% of employees want their employer to contribute more than the statutory minimum. Meanwhile, 58% would prefer bigger pension contributions over other benefits, and 48% say they would contribute more themselves if their employer matched it. With the Pension Schemes Bill in its final stages, the policy focus is increasingly on making pensions better value and easier for savers to navigate over the long term.

What HR and reward teams can do:

Review whether the current pension offer still feels competitive in the context of wider reward
Consider whether matching, salary exchange or better promotion of employer contributions could increase perceived value without a wholesale redesign

5. Employees expect support to feel personal and inclusive

The final change is that employees increasingly expect pension support to reflect who they are, not just what scheme they are in.

The Drewberry survey points to a clear gender gap in pensions understanding. Just 8% of women say they fully understand pensions, compared with 24% of men, while 53% of women say they do not know how much their employer contributes. That is a useful reminder that pension engagement is not evenly spread across a workforce, and that different groups may need different kinds of support, explanation and encouragement.

What HR and reward teams can do:

Move away from one-size-fits-all pension communications and segment support more effectively
Think about how life stage, confidence levels and financial pressure may shape how different employee groups engage with pensions and workplace savings

Making pensions feel more real

Employee expectations around pensions and workplace savings are changing because financial pressure has made people look harder at what their savings are really doing. For employers, the opportunity is not simply to talk more about pensions, but to make them easier to understand, easier to value and easier to connect to real life.

That may mean clearer guidance, more visible employer contributions, or a broader approach that brings workplace savings and short-term financial resilience into the picture. But the direction of travel is clear: employees no longer want pensions to sit quietly in the background. They want support that feels relevant, practical and, ultimately, more reassuring about the future.