As the job market tightens and qualified candidates in some fields become harder to find, many employers say they increasingly are using employee benefits as recruiting tools.


Human-resources professionals here say that oftentimes, they offer salaries that are at par with industry averages, but try to differentiate themselves from other employers by providing benefits that are better than those offered by their peers.


Benefits weigh very heavily in a candidates decision, says Debbie Cerenzia, Gonzaga Universitys interim director of human resources. The value of health care and the value of retirement are much greater now than they have been in the past.


Conventional benefits typically include health insurance, retirement accounts, and vacation pay, among others. Some Spokane-area employers also offer tuition assistance for employees who want to continue their education, and others have more employer-specific options that they contend help to attract job seekers.


Jared Serff, vice president of competitive resources for Spokane Valley-based Itron Inc., says the company often must go to high-tech hotbeds to find workers. For example, he says, Itron has been upgrading its enterprise resource programming software and has been looking for people with experience in working with Oracle software. To find people with such experience, it has had to look to Seattle and Californias Silicon Valley.


Serff says Itron wont offer salaries comparable to those available in those markets, but its sales pitch to job candidates couples its benefits package and a strong argument for the large disparity in cost of living between Spokane and those regions, which have some of the most expensive housing in the U.S.


Part of the recruiting strategy for us is the benefit of living in the Spokane market, he says.


Over the past year, another benefit that has caught the eyes of some job applicants is Itrons employee stock-purchase plan, through which employees can buy Itrons publicly traded stock at a discounted price.


The companys stock has more than doubled in value over the past yearit was trading at $58 a share earlier this month, up from $26 a share a year ago.


Gonzagas Cerenzia says the private Jesuit school tries to keep its salaries comparable with those offered at similar-sized private schools, but cant compete at the high end of the salary range with private employers.


It does offer, however, a strong benefits package that includes a tuition waiver to employees, which allows them to take classes at Gonzaga for free immediately after they start work there. The waiver applies to undergraduate- and graduate-level courses, but not law school.


Through the first five years of employment, employees spouses and dependents can receive partial tuition waivers for undergraduate courses. After five years, spouses and dependents get a full tuition waiver, a sizable benefit considering that Gonzaga charges tuition of $23,140 for a full-time undergraduate student.


Also, Cerenzia says, Gonzaga sets aside for faculty and staff a block of otherwise hard-to-get tickets to the home games of its mens basketball team. One recent morning, Cerenzia says, employees started lining up at 3:30 a.m. to wait for doors to open at 7 a.m. for tickets to see a nationally televised game.


Mary Trudel, manager of corporate benefits at Avista Corp., says Avista offers a tuition-assistance program. Itron has a similar benefit as well.


Also, Trudel says, Avista makes available some programs that the employees pay for, but at less than market rate. For example, Avista has a financial consulting program through which workers can get professional assistance managing retirement accounts. Also, long-term care insurance is available at discounted rates.


Employers say maintaining a competitive employee-benefits package can present challenges, in light of rising health-insurance premiums.


Ted Blotsky, senior vice president of human resources at Associated Industries of the Inland Northwest, says many of that organizations clients are moving toward what are called consumer-driven health-insurance options, particularly health-reimbursement accounts.


Unlike a health-savings account, into which an employee pays at least some, an employer entirely funds a health-reimbursement account, and workers can use that money to pay for medical expenses. The types of medical costs covered vary depending on the way the accounts are structured, but the money can be rolled over from one year to the next and beyond into retirement. In many instances, though, Blotsky says, plans are set up so that money in those accounts goes back to the employer if the employee leaves to go to work for another company.


Health-reimbursement accounts have been available for three years now, but Blotsky says, In 2006 particularly, weve had a considerable number of employers put that plan in place. They are looking at that as a tool to attract good employees and retain good employees.


Contact Linn Parish at (509) 344-1266 or via e-mail at linnp@spokanejournal.com.