Top Five Work Perk Watch - Workology

Top Five Work Perk Watch - Workology Top Five: Work Perk Watch So you may have  noticed that I have a fascination with startup work perks. Ive written about good perks and bad perks, family-oriented perks and performance boosting perks. Ive written a lot about perks. While its true that perks are rarely on the top of a job seekers list of priorities and play less of role in retention than we might think (except for free food the universal morale booster), the transformation of work perks reveals much about the forces that are driving change in the workplace as a whole. Forget fooseball tables and slides in the office what does the growing presence of concierge services on perk lists tell us? Or the growing number of very particular, family-oriented perks? Everything from date-night babysitting, to milk delivery, to egg-freezing? For one, were working too much. For two, the employer-employee relationship is chaining, and work is playing a bigger and bigger role in our private lives. What makes perks so interesting is whats under the surface of these offers; the implicit deals being made. But for now, here are five work perk stories Im keeping an eye on: Top Five: Work Perk Watch Dan Price  Emptied His Retirement  Accounts for that $70,000 Gravity Wage Dan Price! Hes the CEO who made $70,000 the minimum wage at Gravity, and did so at his own expense. Not only did he slash his own wags, weve now learned that he also emptied his retirement accounts to make it happen. Prices actions have been met with both praise and criticism. This news will likely have some folks shaking their heads. But Dan Price has no cause to be worried about his retirement hell make it back and then some and I think this shows remarkable commitment to his principles. Its rare to see an executive put his own future on the line for the sake of his employees. Indian Startup Coders Are Attracting Top Perks The Indian tech community has been heating up. Top coders are now being inundated with offers from recruiters both local and international, and offers now come complete with ever-inflating work perks. The Yelp for Maternity Leave Benefits is Here So you want to start a family AND climb the corporate ladder how can you be sure that youre accepting the right offer? Few companies publicly list their parental leave and benefits packages and its a thorny topic to broach during the interview process. No one wants to risk getting a great job by mentioning a potential new baby.  Fairygodboss  is a new ratings community and forum where people can share information about parental leave and benefits. Starbucks New Perk for Military Vets: Free Tuition for Kids Starbucks already offered free tuition for all its staff, whether home office or barista, but now its offering free tuition to children and spouses of employees who have served in the military. As with its existing tuition program, the offer is exclusive to the Arizona State Universitys well-regarded online program. The move is part of the companys push to hire 10,000 veterans, or veterans spouses, by 2018. Wal-Mart Employees Demanding Discount On Food in Latest Labour Flashpoint Wal-Mart workers receive a 10% discount on most merchandise in the store but not food. This is mysterious to me, considering the National Post cites a $400 million cost to the retailing giant. Certainly thats a significant cost estimate, but put against the companys $16 billion profits and its increasing struggles with public ill will and worker unrest, it sounds like it could be a $400 million well-spent. Expanding employee discounts increases workforce and consumer loyalty that is, Wal-Marts 1.4 million workers will be a heck of a lot more likely to shop at Wal-Mart and to spread good tidings about the company.