Employers want to attracts and keep great talent. So, competitive companies offer amazing perks.
From free massages to catered meals and on-site bike repair to $10,000 to take six months and volunteer somewhere, going to work has never been this good – for some.
Here are examples of the most compelling and interesting employee perks on offer at 15 companies.
Looking for some inspiration on what kind of incentive to offer? Read on. (Perks offered in some offices might not be matched in other offices of the same company)
1. Birchwood Automotive Group
Auto sales
Winnipeg, MB
Employees earn “Birchwood Bucks” when they hit financial targets. They can use these bucks at live auctions to bid on items like iPads and big-screen TVs. Like Canadian Tire money, but totally different.
2. Chubb Insurance Co. of Canada
Insurance
Toronto, ON
Fitness allowance, subsidized social events and sports teams, in-house yoga and massages. Up to five paid days off per year for volunteering.
3. Conexus Credit Union
Financial services
Regina, SK
Ten days of paid personal time per year on top of regular vacation time.
4. Earls Kitchens + Bar
Casual dining chain
Vancouver, BC
Apprenticeship program that pays for culinary training, books and knives (knives are expensive). An awards program that includes food and wine tours in places like Bordeaux, London and Paris.
5. SC Johnson
Manufacturers of household products, including Shout, Windex, and Ziploc
Racine, WI
An on-site concierge will take care of your personal errands. (I wish we had one of those. I’ve been meaning to pick up my dry cleaning for days.) Paid sabbaticals, flexible work arrangements, compressed work weeks, counseling services, child care.
6. ThousandEyes
“IT performance management for the cloud era”
San Francisco, CA
Free daily catered lunch, free dinner if you work late. Free “Espresso 101” classes, like “Latte Art,” which is super exciting if, like me, you’ve always wanted to learn to draw a teddy bear or Ganesh on top of your milky coffee (seriously, click that link. The Ganesh is amazing).
7. Discovery Communications
Non-fiction media company whose brands include Discovery Channel, TLC, and Animal Planet
Silver Spring, MD
Free classes/seminars like African dance, chocolate-making, watercolouring, fly-fishing, and improv. I might not avail myself of these but I like to know the option is out there. An on-site wellness centre staffed with doctors, nurses and other wellness professionals. Discovery Kids Place, an on-site child-care centre.
8. The Boston Consulting Group
Global management consulting firm
Headquarters in Boston, MA, with more than 80 offices around the world
When the company decides that employees are working too hard, it apparently issues a “red zone report” to signal that they need to relax. Also, according to Buzzfeed, “New employees can delay their start date by six months, and receive $10,000 to volunteer at a nonprofit.”
9. Kiva
Platform for enabling small loans to people in the developing world
San Francisco, CA
A monthly “recess,” during which staff breaks for 30 minutes to eat free food, listen to music, and “play in the office.” You can bring your dog to work any time. I love dogs at work, though I can imagine anyone who is allergic wouldn’t be thrilled about this.
10. SeatGeek
Online ticket seller
New York, NY
I’ll preface this by saying it sound like a special kind of hell to me but I know there are plenty of people out there who love this sort of thing: SeatGeek employs an official social planner to organize team building events like competitive ping-pong tournaments, and bowling. The company also offers Happy Hour on Fridays, which is more up my alley.
11. Justin.tv
Online video sharing
San Francisco, CA
Free massages twice monthly, free lunch and dinner daily. And on Fridays, the company sets aside $300 for the staff to go to the liquor store and buy whatever booze they choose, a weekly event they’ve fancily named “Fine Liquor Friday.”
12. Medallia
Customer experience software
Palo Alto, CA
Medallia will give you money to go do something that scares you, to help you overcome your fears. So, for example, “someone who’s afraid of public speaking can take a class on stand-up comedy and performing.” I could use this perk. Skydiving! Bungee jumping (just kidding. No way)! The petting zoo! (Hey, goats bite, I think. Don’t they?)
13. Tagged
Social media
San Francisco, CA
Free gym membership, regular massage days, unlimited sick and vacation days, and monthly wine tastings. Yes, please. Thanks.
14. Facebook
Social media/time suck vortex
Menlo Park, CA
Free meals, free transportation, on-site laundry and dry cleaning, company gym, on-site candy store, a vending machine filled with free computer accessories, free haircuts, free bike repair, available bikes to ride around the Facebook campus, an old school, classic video arcade where staff can blow off some steam by battling it out, and more. The company that rivals Facebook’s perks? You guessed it…
15. Google
Something to do with the internet, not sure what
The Googleplex, Mountain View, CA
Google is famous for its employee perks, particularly at its Mountain View location where the incentives include but are not limited to on-site physicians, nurses and medical services, on-site gym, lap pools, free fitness and yoga classes, on-site concierge, laundry and dry cleaning, MetroNap EnergyPods, free legal services, reimbursement for job-related, classes or degree programs, 24 hour tech support, free rides to and from work, option to bring your pets to work, free drinks on Fridays, budget to decorate your cube, and, of course, free lunch and dinner.