What will be the top benefits headline of 2025? It will be a year of change, experts predict, with trends that will be sharply influenced by external factors and that will have clear impacts on HR and benefits leaders.

In some respects, experts say, the benefits landscape will see the acceleration of ongoing trends—for instance, increasing healthcare costs and demand for personalized benefits like financial support—as well as new influences, such as innovative uses for AI in benefits data analysis.

Paul Fronstin, director of health benefits research at the Employee Benefit Research Institute, recently sat down with HR Executive to discuss the most important benefits trends in 2025.