Metlife Benefits Benchmarking Report

NEW YORK, June 28, 2005 -- Only 22% of employees in small firms (2-9 employees) are satisfied with the
benefits that they receive through their employer, compared to 44% of employees in the largest companies
(25,000+ employees). This is one core finding from MetLife´s annual Benefits Benchmarking Report, which
provides benefits professionals, brokers and consultants with a way to compare the features of one company´s
benefits program against its peers. The free report is available at whymetlife.com/benchmark.
The report is based on findings from the 2004 Employee Benefits Trend Study and covers benefits-related topics
from the perspectives of both employees and employers. Among the topics addressed are employees´ preferred
benefits channels, their receptivity to voluntary (i.e., employee-paid) benefits and their current level of benefits
satisfaction. The study also provides competitive information on employers´ annual investment in employee
benefits, their benefits objectives and use of the Internet for communicating benefit information. Users can view
findings by size - from the smallest firms (2-9 employees) to the largest (25,000+ employees), industry -
construction, manufacturing, retail trade, finance/insurance, services and public administration, or geography -
northeast, midwest, south and west.
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"As the market for talent continues to heat up, benchmark information about employee satisfaction and benefits
offerings is increasingly important," Neil Marcus, director, market research, for MetLife. "With healthcare
premiums escalating at unprecedented rates and employees paying for an ever larger share of their own savings
and protection products, corporate benefits plans are in a state of flux. To remain competitive, employers need
to monitor market offerings closely and periodically re-evaluate their own benefits programs."
Among the other key findings from the MetLife Benefits Benchmarking report:
- Regardless of company size or industry, one of employers´ most important benefits objectives is "controlling
benefits costs."
- Employees who work for companies with fewer than 10,000 employees prefer to speak with someone -
either HR or customer service representatives over the phone - when obtaining service on their employee
benefits. Employees who work for larger companies prefer the Internet.
- Nearly half of all employers believe their benefits plan is comparable to that of their competitors, while 39%
feel their plan is better.
- Nearly half (46%) of public administration employees are satisfied with their benefits, versus 20% of retail
trade employees.
The MetLife Benchmarking Report incorporated findings from the 2004 MetLife Employee Benefits Trend
Study, which was conducted during the third quarter of 2004 and consisted of two distinct surveys. The
employee survey, fielded by NOP World, polled 1,542 voting-age consumers, 903 of whom were full-time
employees, age 21 and older, at companies with at least two employees. The employer survey was conducted by
TNS NFO and polled a total of 1,528 HR/Benefits executives from companies with at least two employees
participated in the employer survey.
MetLife, a subsidiary of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), is a leading provider of insurance and other financial
services to individual and institutional customers. The MetLife companies serve individuals in approximately 13
million households in the U.S. and provide benefits to 37 million employees and family members through their
plan sponsors. Outside the U.S., the MetLife companies serve approximately 9 million customers through direct
insurance operations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Korea,
Taiwan and Uruguay. For more information about MetLife, please visit the company´s Web site at
www.metlife.com.

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