If you thought you were really lucky to be working in an organization that offered you free premium cookies during coffee break and meals throughout the day, please accept my sympathies. You really have no idea how the other half of the working population lives, do you?
Companies are fast beginning to realize the importance of offering impressive perks to their employees, and we are talking a lot more than your usual fully-equipped gym and swimming pool here. Organizations are thinking out of the box and are keeping their employees happy with a wide range of interesting as well as innovative perks and benefits.
Of course that is not to say that the usual perks like free drinks at the local pubs and flight benefits for frequent travelers hold no value in the system. They do, but things have gotten a lot bigger lately. For instance, Yelp has an exclusive 5 star pub for its employees while NuStar Energy in Texas allows employees to use their corporate jets in times of emergency.
Here are some of the more enviable perks that will have you wishing for a job change.
Chesapeake Energy
The 2nd larger producer of natural gas in the nation places high premium on the physical well-being of their employees. That’s probably why they have a fitness facility that sprawls over 72,000 square feet, equipped with sunless tanning facilities and tanning beds. They also offer scuba certificationfree of cost to their workforce. But the cherry on the icing is their center for health and dental care that offers a host of dermatology treatments, including…Botox!
Chesapeake Energy have a fitness facility equipped with sunless tanning facilities
They also offer scuba certification free of cost to their workforce
Netflix
At Netflix – the popular movie streaming and rental service – it pays to be healthy – in the literal sense of the expression. Employees are allocated $10,000 every year to be used for health related expenditure. But, unlike other companies that forfeit the amount you don’t claim, at Netflix the remaining portion of this allowance comes right back to you. Neat, isn’t it?
Netflix allows its employees to claim health related allowance they haven’t used up in a year.
Genentech
Genentech – the biotech industry based in San Francisco – roots for a casual work culture. It’s not an uncommon sight to see employees dressed in jeans and sneakers while technicians jive to rock and roll in the research labs. In addition, Genentech offers a wide (and may I add generous) variety of perks to its employees that includes legal advice, weekly car washes, free counseling, a childcare center, nursing rooms, tuition assistance, dog sitting, haircuts, a couple of libraries, and seasonal produce stands.
Among the many perks offered by the company are weekly car washes, a childcare center, and dog sitting,
But the best of them all is the month and a half long sabbatical that employees are allowed to take after every six years of faithful service to the company. And, we’re talking about a paid sabbatical here, dearies!
For every six years they complete at Genentech, employees are allowed to take a month and a half long sabbatical
Integrated Archive Systems (IAS)
Although it’s not common for huge corporations to provide subsidies to employees who wish to buy hybrid cars, the amount offered usually varies between $2,000 and $5,000. At California based Integrated Archive Systems, Founder and CEO Amy Rao takes things one notch higher. An environmentalist herself, Rao offers $10,000 subsidy to her employees as part of the company’s Eco-Responsibility initiative. Since its inception back in 2004, more than 50% of the IAS staff has taken advantage of this program.
As part of their Eco-Responsibility initiative, IAS offers $10,000 subsidy to its employees
