Checking to see if anyone is open for discussion on this topic. 

Hi! we started to offer a 401K program with a max of 3% match, however it has turned out mega expensive.

The admin fees are a fortune, employees use it as a ‘loan’ system and the match is costing more than we anticipated. I believe the employees would prefer a increase on their hourly rate.

We’re in the same boat with 401k. The fees and matching get pretty costly but mostly we have it in place because I wanted a retirement plan. At this point we are too far in to make any changes on the 401k. The health benefits would be easier to cancel. 

I’ve offered benefits and the techs didn’t want to pay their portion, but it was and is offered.  I do think it's something that is needed and should be discussed with your team.  Your team should be worth this extra expense and you should be able to offer this kind of package to them.  Otherwise, why would they continue to stay with you long-term?  How are you going to compete later with companies like Pool Troopers that offer all of this and a larger starting rate?  

Just my thought but most of the folks I meet out here in my area “running” their own company seem to care more about their pockets than taking care of their people.  If you can’t afford to do these things I suggest looking at your service rates and cost of doing business.  The cost of doing business has increased year over year for the last 3 years plus, did you make the needed adjustments to remain profitable and offer more to your team?  You can figure all of this into your rates and you can also put together a detailed letter explaining why you are increasing rates including paying your staff a “livable wage in this economy” We are a trade and should be charging enough to sustain these things.  My message for growth has always been the same we are looking for our customer base and not every customer is our customer.  I have no desire to take on the person looking for the “discounted” pool service.  Those folks are for the $120-$140 per month guys running around out here not us.  My techs make more than these guys do without all the liability and headaches of running their own company.   

Again just my outlook but not offering things like this seems like a path for unhappy team members that will jump ship at the next better opportunity.  Sorry for this being a bit of a rant but I get so tired of hearing what we can’t afford when 90% of the time it's service rate related. 

My post wasn’t about not being able to afford it. We can afford it and have been offering benefits and 401k matching for years. You say we should be offering it to keep long term employees and that’s why we do it. At the end of the day the workforce filling these technician roles do not care about these benefits because most of them are young with no families. They are always looking for an extra dollar and not an extra benefit. In our experience the workforce does not see the full picture of a compensation package. They only see the bottom dollar on their check and that’s all they care about. I would guess that if there was a poll for technicians across the country they would choose a bump in pay over benefits. 

In your case yes but others started talking price and how expensive it was so hence my rant. 

As long as we offer and are willing to give benefits or more money and let the techs choose that is the best-case scenario for both parties.  Unlike most, we have a variety of age ranges and backgrounds in our company.  We have some from big box management, executive chefs, and some younger that are looking for a career path.  In our experience, it's a mixture of both some want more money and others want benefits and that is all built into their package and thoroughly explained in either case.  There is never going to be a one-size-fits-all but we offer options which is all we can do.