13 Insane Office Perks That Will Make You Reconsider Your Career
Most of us are lucky if our office perks include free K-Cups and a modest commuter discount. But the reality is it's more important than ever to up the ante on employee perks in order to attract and poach the best talent.
Some of the world's hottest and best-rated workplaces have taken that to heart by offering some next-level cushy setups and fringe benefits, and it's not just the money-minters in the tech industry. For a glimpse of what else you might be missing out on, here a few insane perks offered by 13 corporations. Believe it or not, only one is in Silicon Valley.
1. Burton Snowboards
Burlington, Vermont
What they do: Make snowboards, skateboards, and related gear
Best perk: Paid days off when it snows
The legendary snowboard brand does a great deal to encourage its employees to shred the gnar on a regular basis by paying for season-long lift tickets to nearby mountains, and closing down the HQ anytime it snows more than two feet in 24 hours. And during warmer months, there's an on-site skate park just outside the front door.
2. Deloitte
New York, New York
What they do: Professional services
Best perk: Paid 6-month sabbaticals
When its employees want to take a break from providing audit, tax, consulting, enterprise risk, and financial advisory services to the company's hundreds of thousands of clients around the world, they're encouraged to take four weeks of unpaid leave to do whatever they want. Or alternately, take a semi-paid 3 to 6-monthlong sabbatical to volunteer or focus on "career enhancement."
3. Boston Consulting Group
Boston, Massachusetts
What they do: Management consulting
Best perk: Get paid for $10,000 to defer your start date by half a year
This prestigious management consulting firm with 81 offices in 45 countries offers new hires the option to defer their start date by six months and receive $10,000 to volunteer for a non-profit.
4. Chesapeake Energy Corporation
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
What they do: Oil and gas production
Best perk: 50,000 fitness facility with a diving pool, climbing wall, and sand volleyball court
On-site fitness facilities are no longer out-of-the-ordinary at many top corporations, but Chesapeake's offerings are at a whole other level. In addition to standard gym equipment, there's also an on-site indoor climbing wall, sand volleyball court, quarter-mile running track, and an olympic-sized diving pool where employees can be SCUBA-certified.
5. Discovery Media
Silver Spring, Maryland
What they do: Make Shark Week happen, among many, many other things
Best perk: Free cooking, painting, and improve classes
At Discovery's headquarters outside Washington, D.C., employees have access to on-site medical care, and are encouraged to further tap into their creative sides by attending casual (and totally free) classes that range from improv comedy, to watercolors, self-defense, and even cooking.
6. Missing Link Presentations
Johannesburg, South Africa
What they do: Help companies make more engaging corporate presentations
Best perk: Free on-site tattoo
Missing Link's mission is to help make other companies stand out from the crowd, but it's theirs that does so best. Not only does their office HQ look like something out of a Terry Gilliam fever dream, but it comes with a fire pole, shooting range (to help employees relieve stress), and a motherloving on-site tattoo parlor, where workers can get inked for free.
7. SAS Institute
Cary, North Carolina
What they do: Build data analysis software
Best perk: On-site masseurs, health clinic, and car detailing
Regularly found at the top of “best companies to work for lists,” SAS launched its employee perk program in earnest 26 years ago by distributing M&Ms every Wednesday, which is downright laughable compared to the long list of generous incentives they offer today. These days, perks include access to a 50,000-square-foot fitness facility and putting green, 35-hour workweeks, on-site masseurs, a health clinic, and car detailing.
8. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan
Los Angeles, California
What they do: Global litigation
Best perk: $2,000 to travel anywhere in the world for a week
Known as one of the most prestigious and selective law firms in the world, QE has also earned a reputation for its unconventional overall culture compared to most big law firms (casual dress is encouraged, and associate recruitment sessions are designed to be more like parties rather than stuffy interview sessions). However, one of their newly offered perks is what really stands out. To keep employees from burning out, they offer each associate $2,000 to travel and work from anywhere in the world.
9. S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc.
Racine, Wisconsin
What they do: Produce nearly every cleaning product under your kitchen sink
Best perk: Comprehensive concierge services
To keep employees focused on work without distraction, S.C. Johnson provides a comprehensive concierge service that handles errands like grocery shopping or dry cleaning.
10. Epic Systems
Verona, Wisconsin
What they do: Build software for the healthcare industry
Best perk: Monthlong paid sabbaticals every five years
Every five years, you have the option to take a a monthlong sabbatical, and if you opt to visit a country you’ve never been to before, Epic will foot your travel bill. That’s in addition to some other wonderfully convenient services, including laundry & dry cleaning drop-off, oil changes, and having your CSA share of produce delivered directly to your desk.
11. Scottrade
St. Louis, Missouri
What they do: Financial services, discount stock brokerage
Best perk: Will let you open a new branch wherever you want to move
This privately-owned online trading behemoth is based in St. Louis with offices all around the country, though if you feel like moving somewhere they don't have a presence they'll give serious consideration to open a branch wherever you're headed and keep you in a job.
12. The Timberland Company
Stratham, New Hampshire
What they do: Make iconic work boots and lots of other outdoor and casual gear
Best perk: Get paid for 40 hours of non-work volunteering off site
Timberland encourages its employees to get the hell out of the office as often as possible, and offers the option to do up to 40 hours of offsite volunteer work while still getting paid.
13. Google
Mountain View, California
What they do: No evil, run the world, etc.
Best perk: All of them
For some perspective on what companies are up against, it's always good to check in on what big ol' G is offering these days. The perks are so numerous, we'll just list some of the best: delicious gourmet food and snacks 24/7, massages, nap pods, haircuts, on-site doctors, laundry/dry cleaning, car washes & oil changes, and generous parental leave.
Joe McGauley is a senior editor at Supercompressor, and always on the lookout for a nap pod and some delicious gourmet food.