21 Incredible Perks Tech Companies Offer Their Employees

For years it was the same; if you wanted top talent, you paid top prices. Nothing talked more than the digits following the dollar sign. But as time has gone on, savvy companies have discovered that they need to up their recruiting efforts beyond the pay cheque in order to attract the best candidates.

Professionals have realised that they spend a large amount of time at their place of work (90,000 hours over an average lifetime); perhaps more there than anywhere else. They’re looking at the lifestyle and culture of possible workplaces more and more. Thus, the shrewdest companies are placing an ever larger emphasis on culture and employee perks.

According to career site Glassdoor, more than half of all workers say perks and benefits are among the top things they consider when deciding whether to accept a job, and almost 80% of employees say they would prefer new benefits over a pay raise.

So who does it best? Here are 21 of the most amazing examples of employee perks that we’ve seen. How do they stack up against your free coffee machine? Let’s find out…

Google – No Lack of Leisure

In a surprise to no one, let’s kick this list off with the company that may well have started the whole trend. Google is the original and possibly still the best at offering the sort of upsides that have employees becoming part of the (brightly coloured) furniture. Their famously relaxed offices are big on leisure activities, with bowling alleys, basketball courts and putting greens all par for the course (if you’d excuse the pun).

There’s one amazing benefit that’s perhaps less known simply because no one would ever hope to use it; in a beautiful gesture, Google provides a surviving spouse or partner no less than 50% of a deceased employee’s salary for a decade after they pass.

Airbnb – Take a Trip

The ‘standard’ Silicon Valley employee perks are at play within the offices of Airbnb, with free meals, drinks and leisure activities available to staff. But the major perk is one that the company is better placed than any other to offer. Every employee gets $2000 voucher to stay at any Airbnb property in the world.

When should you take up the offer? How about your birthday, when you’ll be granted the day off.

Asana – Make Your Mark

Asana was created by two of the original Facebook employees, Dustin Moskovitz and Justin Rosenstein, who both worked at increasing productivity at the social media giant. The lessons learnt there have impacted Asana’s employees in a particularly delicious way.

Onsite yoga and life coaching classes, bring your pet to work day every day, organic meals prepared by a resident chef twice daily; it’s little wonder Glassdoor ranks Asana as one of the 3 best companies to work for in the entire world. But its finest perk allows for every employee to make their workspace a home. On your first day you’ll get no less than $10,000 to entirely customise your workspace, fitting it with whatever you please. Mine would be fitted with a Shetland pony.

Commbank Digital – Virtually Unbeatable

One of the best Aussie efforts comes from Commbank’s digital arm. Workers are treated to heavy discounts on electricity and insurance, as well as free daycare at selected centres. Still not sure whether the company is the right fit for you? Never fear, Commbank has developed a VR experience that allows potential candidates to test out how it feels to work at their digital offices, all from the comfort of their own home.

Hubspot – An Endless Holiday

We all know we get a certain amount of holidays per year as employees, right? In Australia your four weeks of annual leave is generally the highlight of your year. But what if you didn’t get four weeks? What if you took as much (or indeed as little) as you darned well pleased?

Hubspot does just that – unlimited vacation time for its employees. Want to go to see a month-long sports tournament, or follow your favourite band as they tour the world? So be it.

Facebook – The Digs Are on Us

Silicon Valley is a notoriously pricey part of the world to ply your trade in. With the world’s tech geniuses all gathering together in one place, and inevitably making a wage equivalent to the GDP of a small African nation, the area’s interns are faced with rent prices that often many times their salaries.

But if you work for Facebook there’s no need to fret, as interns are offered free housing with a tonne of amenities, including a shuttle to and from FB HQ.

Netflix – Ooh Baby Baby

Few companies are as new-parent-friendly as streaming giant Netflix. No matter whether you’re the mama bear or the papa bear, you’ll receive no less than a year’s worth of maternity or paternity leave, are free to return to work in either a part-time or full-time capacity, and can take parenting time off as needed throughout the year.

Salesforce – Give a Little Bit

Looking for a company that allows you to be the philanthropist that you’ve always known you were? Look no further than Salesforce, who actively encourages each of its employees to give a little back. Not only do you get six whole days of paid volunteer leave each and every year, you’re also given a cool $1000 to donate to whichever charity you choose!

Spotify – How Do You Like Your Eggs in the Morning?

Paid parental leave is one thing, assisting in the creation of a new life is quite another. But that’s exactly what Spotify offers its employees. The music streaming service covers the costs incurred by its employees for egg freezing and fertility assistance, then backs up this generosity with 6 months of paid parental leave for anyone lucky enough to fall pregnant.

Pinterest – From Parenting to Getting Paid

Sticking with the new parent theme for a moment longer, Pinterest have a unique set of perks designed to make the transition out of and back into the workforce as smooth as possible. Three months of paid leave is backed up by a month’s worth of part-time hours, as well as two counselling sessions designed to prepare the new parent for their re-entry into the workforce.

Deloitte – Take a Sabbatical

Sometimes you need a bit of time off to get back to your best. While sabbaticals have long been considered a dirty word in the tech world, Deloitte take a very different stance. An unpaid, one month sabbatical can be taken for whatever reason you like, while a three- to six-month sabbatical can be taken at 40% pay, provided you are pursuing professional or personal growth opportunities during that time. No, cage dancing in Ibiza isn’t considered personal growth.

Canva –  Firm Those Buttocks

The team at Canva know that a healthy and fun workplace begins with healthy and fun-loving employees. It’s for this reason that they have a firm focus on health and fitness, offering their employees free gym and yoga memberships, holding events like Canva Sports Day, and getting their two in-house chefs to whip up delicious and healthy meals on the daily. Undressed greek salad BE GONE.

Twitter – Whose Line is it Anyway?

As a Silicon Valley staple the three meals a day style perks are somewhat expected. What perhaps isn’t expected is access to free improvisational comedy classes, which Twitter employees can take at their leisure. Twitter believes that this sort of activity is great for workplace creativity, although employers beware – this offering may come with a related spike in class-clownery.

Adroll – Fill Your Mind

With US health care company Aetna finding that employers can expect a stunning ROI of $11 on every $1 spent on employee mindfulness, it’s perhaps of little surprise that Adroll invests so heavily in the area. The company’s mindfulness efforts actually form a relatively small segment of their greater ‘RollWell’ program, which includes meditation, swimming classes, yoga, paddleboarding, fitness sessions, team sports and partnerships with external gyms. There’s no excuse to be below your best if you’re employed by Adroll.

Atlassian – Leaving a Strong Foundation

The trend of start-ups giving back to the community is helping to shed the stereotype of the big corporation whose eyes are locked firmly on profit. Atlassian, the biggest of Australian start-up successes, offers its employees ‘foundation leave’; five paid days that the employee can spend helping a philanthropic organisation that speaks to them. NOTE: The front bar of a pub does not constitute such an organisation.

Campaign Monitor – Chow Down In-house

The crew at Campaign Monitor know that the very best work is done when stomachs are appropriately full. The task of filling said stomachs is left to Ollie Heath, a classically trained French head chef whose full-sized commercial kitchen runs with a paddock-to-plate ethos. The whisper is that the cherry and walnut chocolate brownies are to die for.

OFX – Zen out of Ten

“You’ll see ‘work hard play hard’ on a lot of career pages like this. But we take it so seriously we appointed a committee to ensure it happens.” So spouts the career page of OFX, and with the Good Vibes Committee (trademark no doubt pending) organising wine tasting, treasure hunts and halloween extravaganzas, it’s hard to argue with them. But on top of the events, OFX also offers its employees massages and yoga classes, to help bring a little bit of zen to the workplace.

Microsoft – For the Mamas and the Papas

In May of 2017 Microsoft officially threw down the gauntlet to other American mega-corporations when they announced a huge jump in their paid parental leave policy. Paid leave rose from 2 weeks to six weeks for all new parents, and from 12 weeks to 20 weeks for the primary carer. Employees are also now able to utilise up to four weeks of paid leave to care for a seriously ill family member. Well done Mr. Gates.

Amazon – Ensuring Your Health

Can you imagine the sort of health care package the Vice President of Amazon gets access to? You needn’t, says Amazon VP John Olsen, because warehouse workers will get the exact same health care package that he himself enjoys. In fact, even part-time employees will get the full box and dice, although only after a period of 90 days. It almost makes you want to be sick!

HotelsCombined – Develop Yourself

For tech professionals looking to remain at the top of the game, professional development is a non-negotiable. But finding the time while working a full-time job can prove an impossible task. HotelsCombined have not only identified this issue, they’ve fixed it. Every employee is offered up to 10 days per year to spend on professional development, all of which will be paid for by the company. Learning never looked so good.

Scopely – Walking to the Beat of Their Own Drum

Without doubt the award for the most offbeat employee perks goes to the team at Scopely, the LA-based mobile entertainment company. On becoming part of the Scopely family, you’ll get:

• $11,000 of what’s described as ‘bacon wrapped cash’ (and is exactly that)
• A bacon wrapped cake (they like bacon)
• A custom-made tuxedo
• A year’s supply of Dos Equis beers
• An oil painting of your fine self

Choosing your workplace less by the digits on your paycheck, and more by the lifestyle it offers. It’s a new idea, but with tech professionals spending so much time working, it’s one that makes perfect sense.

So, is it time you upgraded from that free coffee machine?