A recent survey by Glassdoor found that one in five employees considered workplace perks such as a casual dress code, free food and drink, a pet-friendly workplace, and other soft benefits extremely important. That got us thinking: Do you care about in-office perks? Does your company offer any?
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At my last job, we got company catered bagels every friday, and free coffee and soft drinks throughout the day. It was a pet-friendly workplace as well too. The perks were nice, though ultimately, it’s not perks that make a job worth staying at.
What in-office perks does your company provide to its employees? Do you score free lunches, or the option to bring your pets to work? Do you have rostered days off? Do those perks matter to you? Would you take another job without them? Let us know in the comments below, and check out the Glassdoor study at the link below.
1 In 5 Employees Report Office Perks An Important Workplace Benefit; Glassdoor Survey [Glassdoor]
Comments
11 responses to “Do You Care About In-Office Perks?”
The company I work for has Friday lunch every week, Nando’s, Burgers, Pizza etc as well as an open Bar on Friday Nights. We also have Casual Fridays.
Though I did not take this job for those reasons, they help you identify the culture that is in place and that was very important to me.
1 year later and I still love it here.
Have just moved from a workplace where there were plenty of pleasant perks (Snacks, free lunches, casual atmosphere, team events etc.) to the Sahara of austerity (Coffee+Milk+Tea+Uniformed if you ask nicely)….
It definitely doesn’t make me feel dedicated to the cause and, in the end, a great number of people spend their time away from the office in order to reacquire the lost perks (Or applying for other jobs)… Seems a false economy to me…
My current workplace has free lunch on friday where the bosses buy chinese/thai/burgers for all the staff and we sit and chat for a bit, in an office of 20 people it would get expensive but its a small incentive to make you feel wanted and to work that bit harder and feel appreciated.
Every perk on the planet comes to naught if your remuneration is sub-par. You can keep your perks, pay me properly!
Just what I was about to say. If you’re gonna spend all that money I’d prefer a pay rise so I can make my own perks.
Exactly. I get a lot of money but my company has no soul. I go to work to get paid money for doing something I enjoy, not to get free drinks/cake.
Does sitting in a hammock getting a deformed spine along with burning your thighs and reducing you sperm count via a laptop perched over your nads count as a perk or punishment?
I think it is a 50/50 situation, my last job had a lot of perks, 9 day fortnight, drinks on fridays, lots of social events and casual dress. All amazing and helped me love my job but when it came to the crunch swapping jobs to where i am now with hardly any perks but 25% more pay… You can learn to live without those perks.
We have soft drinks, snacks, all the usual stuff. We have a kitchen and full sized fridge and will stock it with anything people want – so if you want to make lunch at work you can. We don’t deduct meal breaks off pay either. Catered group lunches every other week.
Casual dress code most of the time (exception is if visiting a customer). Staff get any electronics or computer gear at the cost we buy it from the distributor. Need any equipment to get your job done? Say the word and it will magically appear.
Pretty much any time off is granted: visiting friends for a long weekend? got to run some errands? not feeling hot? Just take the time off and do what you have to do.
Oh and then there’s all the career stuff, profit sharing, equity, intrapreneurship, and much more.
The tradeoff to all of this is we expect results. You can’t slink away here and hope your performance goes unnoticed!
Casual dress code is a huge winner for me, I hate collars and buttons. I don’t even own black shoes anymore, if I want to leave I’m going to have to buy a whole new office wardrobe.
The drinks fridge and free fruit are nice too, but I could happily live without them.
As a government worker I get…. hot and cold filtered water.
But I can wear anything I want. Unless I change to a different boss who doesn’t like the way I dress.
Every so often the higher ups will try to add fun to the job to get, in an effort to increase “engagement”.
What they forget is that people aren’t engaged at other jobs because of the perks and/or fun, they’re just gravy.
I care about being valued, being listened to, having a good team that works together. If there are perks, they are just that, perks. My enjoyment of work can’t be based on a perk.