I thought such employer + employee contributions were necessary as part of the IRS law or something.

That's correct. These are legally mandated employer contributions.

Whatever they are they are certainly nothing worthy of consideration as a perk right? Seems like a cheap move to inflate total compensation numbers above what they should otherwise appear as with respect to figures people actually have control over.

I worked for a company that did the same. They included such items in their "Total Compensation" website.

From the company's point of view, they are trying to convey the complete "here's what you cost the company" point of view. And of course, it makes their complete package of benefits bigger that it would otherwise appear.

Still, there's nothing nefarious about this practice (which seems to be becoming more a standard big-company HR/benefits practice these days). As always, you need to understand what is included, and what is not, in order to evaluate it correctly.

I thought such employer + employee contributions were necessary as part of the IRS law or something.

That's correct. These are legally mandated employer contributions.

Whatever they are they are certainly nothing worthy of consideration as a perk right? Seems like a cheap move to inflate total compensation numbers above what they should otherwise appear as with respect to figures people actually have control over.

I worked for a company that did the same. They included such items in their "Total Compensation" website.

From the company's point of view, they are trying to convey the complete "here's what you cost the company" point of view. And of course, it makes their complete package of benefits bigger that it would otherwise appear.

Still, there's nothing nefarious about this practice (which seems to be becoming more a standard big-company HR/Benefits practice these days). As always, you need to understand what is included, and what is not, in order to evaluate it correctly.