TTEC paused 401(k) matching contributions for its US-based employees for nine months, with a goal of resuming a 3% match if business performance supports it. Employers often adjust retirement plan contributions during economic strain or uncertainty, and matches may resume at different levels. More than three-quarters of employers offered Roth 401(k) or similar defined contribution plans as of 2025, and most of those also offered a match. 401(k) matching pauses increased during the 2001 and 2008 recessions and early in the Covid-19 pandemic. Retirement benefits are a major part of benefit budgets after healthcare, and employers may cut 401(k) matches to avoid layoffs.
"TTEC recently paused 401(k) matches for its US-based employees, Business Insider reported on May 8. The company, which is headquartered in Austin, has about 16,000 staff in the US. TTEC's chief people officer, Laura Butler, said in an April 30 memo that the pause would last nine months, and that the company hopes to resume its 3% match "if our business performance supports it.""
"Employers often make changes to their retirement plan contributions during periods of economic strain or uncertainty, sources told HR Brew. And while many ultimately resume their match, they don't always do so at the same level. What prompts employers to hit pause on 401(k) matches? More than three-quarters (76%) of employers offered a Roth 401(k) or other similar defined contribution plan as of 2025, according to SHRM. Of those offering a defined contribution plan, 74% also offered a match."
"Despite their popularity, 401(k) matches often take a hit when the economy goes south. TTEC is far from the first employer to hit pause on their retirement match. The paint manufacturer Sherwin-Williams did so last year, as did Drexel University, though both resumed them within the year. Pauses to 401(k) matching ticked up during the 2001 and 2008 recessions, as well as the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic."
"Retirement tends to be one of the biggest lines on companies' benefit budgets, after healthcare. Employers may favor making cuts to their 401(k) programs if it means they don't have to lay off workers, Craig Copeland, the director of wealth benefits research with the Employee Benefits Research Institute, said. During periods of economic strain, "one of the things that employers have gone to instead of laying off people, is cut back on its benefits," he said. If a company matches employee 401(k) contributions at 5%, "that potentially could make a difference," and allow them to avoid j"
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