#Workperks, a hot trending hashtag on Instagram I’m sure you have seen next to a photo of a work happy hour, an exotic trip, a home office, etc. Essentially #workperks is bragging rights that someone’s workplace offers great benefits/perks. Are your employees showing their love for your company to the world with #workperks? Are you offering your employees something to show? The world of work perks aka benefits are changing drastically. Our ever changing/mobile lifestyle combined with a highly competitive job market are a few contributing factors causing this shift.
It was once standard for companies to offer 2 weeks of PTO, some sort of health/dental insurance coverage, 401(k), and some sick days. Now, companies are accounting for much more. Benefits and perks are being used as a point of differentiation to allure candidates as well as answering millennials’ desire for a quality of life.
We would never encourage a candidate take a job based on benefits alone or think it’s wise for a company to hire someone who is so focused on everything the job offers except the actual job. However, here are 5 innovative work perks we have heard about recently:
1. Get paid to volunteer
2. Paid sabbatical
3. Shipping breast milk
4. On-site acupuncture and improv classes
5. Midday surfing
Other more popular work perks are the opportunity to work from home, unlimited vacation, company distributed mobile phones/laptops, full healthcare coverage, equity, a 4 day work week, free meals and snacks and the list goes on and on.
The term work/life balance is becoming outdated. We are now starting to see how work fits within our life. We are choosing to work at companies that offer an environment/culture that aligns with our outlook on how the slice of work fits into the larger life pie. For some that means working 24/7. Others are looking to have work fit alongside other hobbies, passions, or family time. Companies are reflecting this in their culture such as Upworthy, who have a completely remote workforce. They view work as a part of life. Just because their workforce is entirely remote doesn’t mean they aren’t working hard, it’s just a different lifestyle. Also, Reusser Design offers a 4-day work week, which is showing positive productivity results and allowing for more full days off each week.
The bottom line, companies can be viewed as families or sub cultures of our larger society – each have a different set of rules and offer different lifestyles. It’s all about finding a company that matches your values and goals as to how work fits within life. And this can change throughout different stages of life as priorities shift.
Come work with us at Clarity Staffing – we not only staff for temp and temp to perm opportunities, but for permanent roles as well. We will work with you to understand your goals and priorities in order to match you with the best possible company and role for where you are at right now. Email us to find out more: info@claritystaffing.com.