Surprising Results From New Survey On Employment Benefits

Prospect Heights, IL - As the nation's economy shows signs of improvement, and companies begin to contemplate increasing staff in 2004, many employers are looking at ways to increase morale and keep valued employees. A new poll on worker benefits indicates professional development opportunities are valued as much as financial rewards. The nationwide poll, conducted by Household International, a wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE: HBC) has revealed interesting facts on what employees view as important benefits and incentives. Among them:

• Seventy-four percent of those polled indicate having a pension plan that requires no employee contribution is very enticing.
• Seventy-three percent think that a generous employer match to an employee's 401K contribution is also important.
• Seventy-one percent feel that offering skills development/training classes and tuition reimbursement is a valuable benefit to employees.

Executives at Household say they continually try to determine what employees really care about so they are better able to retain and recruit the best workforce possible. "What this survey tells us is that today's American worker appreciates the value of professional development as much as financial rewards," said Mary Bilbrey, vice president of employee benefits at Household. "Employees value a company that prepares them to handle new challenges or develops them for advancement. Today's workers understand that rewards are tied to performance - and they appreciate companies that empower them to improve their performance." The poll also showed some notable differences in what appeals to male and female employees. Female employees favored tuition reimbursement and training classes over their male counterparts by 20 percent. In addition, women were much more interested than men in companies that provided on-site health screening, fitness facilities and wellness seminars, by a margin of 13 percent. This type of information is especially important to companies like Household that continually win such awards as Working Mother magazine's "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers" and Computerworld's "100 Best Places to Work in IT." "It is important for companies to keep in mind that employees are motivated by much more than just their paycheck," noted Bilbrey. Ipsos Public Affairs, a leading survey-based market research company, conducted the poll for Household on Dec. 21-22, 2003. More than 1,000 adults nationwide participated. For more information about Household, visit www.household.com or contact Mark Friedlander. For more information from Ipsos, please contact: Thomas Riehle President, Ipsos Public Affairs Washington, D.C. 202.463.7300 About Ipsos Public Affairs Ipsos Public Affairs, headquartered in Washington D.C., with offices in New York, Chicago and San Ramon (CA), is a non-partisan, objective, public affairs company made up of campaign and political polling veterans as well as seasoned research professionals. The company conducts strategic research initiatives for a diverse number of American and international organizations based not only on public opinion research, but often elite stakeholder, corporate and media opinion research. Ipsos Public Affairs also conducts national and international public opinion polling on behalf of the The Associated Press, the world's oldest and largest news organization. Ipsos Public Affairs is a member of the Ipsos Group, a leading global survey-based research firm. Visit us at: www.ipsos-pa.com About Ipsos Ipsos is a leading global survey-based market research group, with revenues of 538.5 million euros in 2002. It offers a full suite of research services, guided by industry experts and bolstered by advanced analytics and methodologies in advertising, marketing, public opinion and customer loyalty research, as well as forecasting and modeling. Member companies also offer a full line of custom, syndicated, omnibus, panel, and online research products and services. To learn more, visit: www.ipsos.com Ipsos is listed on the Euronext Paris Premier Marchй, and is part of the SBF 120 and Next Prime Indices as well as eligible to the Deferred Settlement System (SRD). Euroclear code 7329, Reuters ISOS.LN, Bloomberg IPS FP