Survey Finds Strong Interest in Hearing Benefits Among Younger Employees

A TruHearing survey points to growing interest in hearing-health benefits among younger US employees. Among employees aged 25–44, 99% said employer-provided hearing benefits were important, compared with 93% in 2023. The article also reports a 17% hearing-loss figure for Gen Z and associates it with exposure at concerts and sports events, prolonged headphone use, and video games. Those associations should not be read as proof that any one activity caused an individual's hearing loss.

The article describes Gen Z workers as attentive to both personal health and financial planning. It argues that hearing-care benefits may help employers attract and retain younger staff as part of a broader package of physical and mental-health support.

Ryan Baum, a vice president at TruHearing, said health and well-being are high priorities for Gen Z and that hearing health is part of that wider picture. As younger employees enter the workforce, he said, they look for employers and benefit plans aligned with their values; hearing benefits can express care for employees as well as support recruitment.

Hearing protection tips

For many young people, headphones have become as routine to carry as a phone or keys. The article offers three suggestions for their use:

1. Follow its “60-60-60” rule: keep music below 60% of the device's maximum volume, listen for no more than 60 minutes continuously, and, where possible, keep surrounding sound below 60 dB. These simple numbers are presented as the article's advice, not as a universal measure of safe exposure.
2. Avoid using headphones in noisy places, where it may be tempting to raise the volume without noticing.
3. If you use headphones often, pay attention to changes in hearing and arrange regular hearing checks. Watch for tinnitus, a feeling of fullness in the ear, or dizziness, and seek medical care promptly if hearing declines.

Image credit in the original article: online image, with no specific creator identified. Original Hearing Review report.