A mid-level finance professional at a Nigerian multinational told me something that has stayed with me. She said she had started comparing her benefits package to her counterpart in the London office. Not out of resentment, but out of curiosity. What she found made her quietly start looking for other opportunities.
This conversation is happening in offices across Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. More than most Nigerian HR leaders realise.
The information gap has closed
Ten years ago, a Nigerian professional working for a multinational had limited visibility into what their international peers received. That gap is gone. LinkedIn. Glassdoor. WhatsApp groups among finance, legal and tech professionals. The information now moves freely.
Nigerian professionals at multinationals know exactly what their London, Johannesburg and Nairobi counterparts get. They see income protection schemes. Redundancy cover. Mental health support. Sabbatical policies. And they quietly compare.
"We offer exactly the same salary band as our London counterparts when adjusted for purchasing power. But the benefits package is a different conversation entirely."
What the gap actually looks like
The most common benefits at multinational Nigerian offices in 2024 are health insurance, pension through the mandatory RSA, and some form of group life. That is where most packages end.
What is conspicuously absent is income protection — any formal mechanism to bridge the financial gap in the event of involuntary job loss. In the UK, statutory redundancy pay is a legal minimum. In Nigeria, there is no equivalent requirement. Most employers treat this gap as invisible. Their employees do not.
Nigerian employers legally required to offer income protection to employees. The market gap is entirely voluntary — and entirely open.
Why this is a talent problem, not just a benefits problem
The professionals most aware of this gap are exactly the ones you most want to retain. Senior finance. Legal counsel. Strategy leads. Tech talent. These are mobile professionals with options, and they are doing benefit-for-benefit comparisons when they evaluate offers.
The employers who move first on income protection are not just doing right by their workforce. They are staking out a position in the talent market before it becomes a standard expectation. That window does not stay open indefinitely.
The question HR leaders are starting to ask
The shift we are seeing among forward-thinking Nigerian HR leaders is a move away from "what are we legally required to offer" toward "what does our EVP need to look like to attract and keep the people we want." Income protection sits squarely in that second question.
It is not yet expected everywhere. But in three to five years, the organisations that did not move will be explaining to candidates why they are behind.
Is your workforce protected?
SureBrg enables Nigerian employers to offer income protection — managed entirely by us, underwritten by licensed Nigerian insurers.
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