According to Business & Legal Reports, Inc.'s (BLR) 1999 Survey of Employee Benefits, almost half of the employers surveyed contribute 50 percent or more into the 401(k) plans of their workers. Nationally, 45 percent are matching or beating their exempt employees' contribution, while 47 percent of nonexempt office employers and 45 percent of nonexempt plant employers are doing the same thing. The area of the country where employers provide the highest percentage was in the south, while employees in the west received the smallest employer contributions.

As expected, large employers matched or exceeded their employees' contributions at the highest rate (52 percent for exempt, 54 for nonexempt office, and 52 percent for nonexempt plant), but smaller employers were not too far behind (42 percent for exempt, 43 percent for nonexempt office, and 42 percent for nonexempt plant).

Employees in the education field fared the worst (less than 22 percent of employers matched their employees' contributions), while those in research and development received the highest employer supplement (over 56 percent of their employers gave at least 50 percent).

Government workers found Uncle Sam's contributions to be lagging behind most other employers. Only 22 percent of employers of exempt federal workers contributed half or more to their employees' 401(k) plans. That rate was similar to what nonexempt office workers could expect, but federal nonexempt plant employees found only 11 percent of their employers matching or exceeding their own contributions.