As it turns out, the awesome-factor from working at a Fortune 500 company extends beyond the salary– the employee perks are apparently pretty cool too. According to Glassdoor, roughly 57% of workers consider the benefits as a top priority when considering a position. And speaking as one of these 57%-ers currently rubbing their hands gleefully at said perks/benefits, I have to wholeheartedly agree.
Here are some of the greatest employee perks and benefits from a few companies you may have heard of, according to Glassdoor:
- Google: death benefits, providing the surviving spouse or partner 50% of the deceased employee’s salary for ten years. Additionally, varied and delicious meals each day in the office, as well as office beer and wine on Fridays.
- Microsoft: fitness program reimbursement to encourage physical health, given the field and all…
- Adobe: required time off, as in “You have to take a week off… or else…”.
- Facebook: a choice of either free housing for interns, with amenities such as a shuttle service to and from the Menlo Park campus, or a monthly housing stipend of $1,000 USD. Interns aren’t exactly employees, but the perk is still fairly noteworthy.
- Twitter: on-site acupuncture, three catered meals a day, and also improv classes. Because why not.
- Netflix: a year of paid maternity/paternity leave for new parents, with the option to return part-time or full-time and take time off throughout the year for the kids.
- Goldman Sachs: oddly specific, but coverage for gender reassignment surgery since 2008.
- Spotify: also oddly specific, but coverage of egg freezing and fertility assistance, probably to eliminate the challenges of balancing building a family and career. Also six months paid parental leave and a month of flexible work options for returning parents.
- PwC: partial student loan debt assistance, in the way of $1,200 USD a year. Which, frankly, barely makes a dent, but any help is appreciated to scale that mountain.
- Airbnb: free vacations… sort of. It’s more of a $2,000 USD stipend to travel and stay in an Airbnb spot anywhere, but free vacation sounds better on paper.
- Burton: skip passes and snow days after considerable snowfall.
- Genentech: the full self-care deluxe treatment; mobile spa, dentists, haircuts, car washes, and a childcare centre. Plus more, but we’ll cut it short here.
