A shaky economic recovery means employees and employers are treading lightly on making big decisions about retirement and retirement benefits, reports Aon Consulting in its 2009 Benefits & Talent Survey. 

 “The ‘wait-and-see’ attitude is not surprising. We may continue to see dramatic economic swings, as interdependencies grow in the global economy, and retirement programs and savings can't stop with every downturn,” says Amol Mhatre, senior vice president for retirement innovation at Aon Consulting. “Retirement security for working Americans will soon become a challenge for policy makers and employers, along the lines of health care reform,” he adds.

The HR consulting firm surveyed 1,313 employers. It found that nearly 87% of employers report that workers are delaying retirement due to a slow economy. In addition, a third of employers admit that they have less than 70% of their workers enrolled in their defined contribution (DC) plans, with 67% citing that workers are not enrolled because they can’t afford it.

Employees, however, continue to turn to the workplace for advice about retirement savings. About 65% of employers said they had noticed an increase in investment-related questions in 2008, compared to 2007. Still, in 2008, only about a third of those employers increased their communications on the importance of saving for retirement, while 62% report their communication remained unchanged from the previous year, report analysts at Aon Consulting.

The survey also shows that 56% of employers offer matching contributions on DC plans. Of those, half provide a higher than 3% match. What’s more, 41% of employers have an automatic enrollment plan, with 53% implementing a default at 3%.