A compensation study by UBS found that more than a third of employees with equity incentives saw minimal value in them, mostly due to a lack of explanation and education around the plans.
For its latest edition of “UBS Participant Voice,” the firm surveyed 1,046 U.S. equity award plan participants across industries with at least $5,000 in investable assets between September 12 and September 24, 2019. At that time, it found that, since 2013, there’s been a steady increase in the percentage of employees who highly value their equity awards—from 26% in 2013 to 42% in 2019—yet one in three (36%) still saw minimal value in them.
While the trend is positive, the data still suggests that firms should work to educate employees on the value of equity incentives.