What is the most interesting job perk you’ve ever had?
Some restaurants I worked at gave you free food and drinks. I once worked at a movie theater and got free movies.
I read that at Google they get free food and a free onsite gym.
What have you experienced?
Authorizing airstrikes would be pretty cool.
Authorizing airstrikes would be pretty cool.
When my company still had roadside assistance as part of our offered product, it was one of the perks that the employees enjoyed as well. I actually used it a couple of times.
My last company made tickets to our local minor league baseball team one of our perks as well as entrance to the ARCA races that they sponsored. We also got membership to a local recreation center as part of our benefits.
Being able to work at home has to rank as one of the greatest of all job perks.
The Free Book Room at Borders Corporate HQ.
One of the very few things I miss about that job.
Free college tuition. Huge benefit.
Working for a museum, I get free entry at many other museums.
One place I worked at had an arrangement with the hospital next door where we had free use of their swimming pool. Possibly other fitness equipment too but I was only interested in swimming.
A classmate of mine gets $35k in a fund that can be used agsinst a catalog of executive perks beyond the ones all the execs get. He can choose to fly on a private jet (vs commercial business class), a personal trainer, a personal chef, concierge medical, VIP show and sports tickets, family travel and many more choices). So instead of getting a bunch of stuff that you might not value, you get those things that make it easier for you to cope with the rigors of executive life.
He can buy all these things anyway (his total comp package is just under $1M) but somehow he loves this cafeteria plan.
I’m a media buyer and TV and radio stations like to try and grease the wheels with all kinds of fun events, dinners at nice restaurants, all expense paid vacations, and tickets to high profile events. The job is hard and stressful but the perks make it worthwhile.
I made cell phones for a decade. Part of the job was testing the product. I bought a cell phone in 1999, and didn’t buy another one until last year. Always had the latest, top of the line stuff.
At one of the companies, we had an on-site gym with free membership. They also sometimes gave us hockey tickets.
Another company gave us $300/year to spend on general health stuff - exercise equipment - anything from sneakers to an exercise bike, gym membership, camping supplies, etc.
I’ve also had access to tuition reimbursement, although I’ve only taken one class through any of the programs. I had co-workers who used it, though.
My current job has some angles in the marine industry. I sometimes get to go out on our 39’ Cigarette boat. Actually used it to commute to the Fort Lauderdale Boat show a few months ago - drove to a dock outside a friend’s house, called the captain, and asked him to pick me up there. It’s a nice little perk.
Many years ago I was a projectionist at a United Artists theater. There was a cooperative agreement between all of the local chains that employees at any theater could watch free shows at any other theater. So, if the movie I wanted to see was at AMC or General Cinemas or whatever, it was a simple matter of having our manager call the other theater and ask for free passes for an employee and his/her guest.
These days I get free drugs. That’s pretty darned cool considering how expensive prescriptions can get. A few weeks ago I went to pick up a prescription for migraine medication and it said “$0.00” on the receipt; I asked the technician what the original price was and she said it was over $400.
And this is for name-brand (generics would not be free).
Back in the 80’s I worked for Eastern Airlines reservations in Boston. Employees and their immediate families flew coach for practically free. I think it was $4 each way, anywhere Eastern flew. First class was $6, so why would I ever fly coach? The money was taken out of my next paycheck.
You were also allowed to swap work shifts with the other employees without approval. That allowed you to build up several days or even weeks off at one time for traveling. I can remember calling my mom, who lived back in New York, and telling her to pack, because we were flying out somewhere the next day. She was ready to go every single time.
At the time, Eastern’s service to South America was second to none. I flew all over SA, in first class. It was so much fun. My room and I would even fly to St Thomas just for night to pick up cheap booze to take home. My boyfriend (who worked at Pan Am) and I flew to Paris for Valentines Day weekend one time.
I was heartbroken when the airline ceased operation.
That is a fantastic perk, Honey.
Fantastic perk, indeed!
In the mid 90’s my mother-in-law passed away in Brazil and my wife stayed there for a month while I returned to the States to go back to work. The plan was that I would return a month later, spend a week there, and then bring her home, but that would require one more round-trip ticket…
My brother-in-law had a sister who worked at one of the major airlines, and I remember she gave me a weird kind of hand-written ticket that would get me to Brazil and back for free. I had to travel standby, but the price was right. What a cool perk!
I used to get to take home all the rock core I wanted…
Free (or nearly so) travel. Going from San Francisco to Hong Kong for $40 in business class is a pretty good deal. I went to Hong Kong for Spring Break while in college and once flew from Reno to Houston for a BBQ.
Not just “free food” but cafeterias worked by real chefs with high-quality food, and more vegetarian options than you could shake a stick at. And there are coolers all over the place full of all sorts of free drinks.
And they have bikes to ride all over the campus instead of you having to hoof it everywhere.
I don’t think they have free on-site child care (although I do think they do have child care, it is just expensive). I think that would be the best perk for a LOT of people, anywhere!
I knew a guy that owned a local mortgage company, and he would have a professional masseuse come in on a regular basis (maybe weekly) and offered free massages. The company paid the bill, though employees could and did tip if memory serves. I was there talking to the guy about a business idea of mine and saw the table and talked with him about it. Pretty cool.
As for me, my wife and I have been self-employed professional cleaners for many years. We currently have a client that has season tickets to the women’s basketball team that she makes available to us as we wish. We’re going to a game today, in fact. There are other perks, like someone recently got a new KitchenAid mixer and gave my wife their old one that still worked fine. It just has a button that is finicky, and she got a great deal on a new one over the holidays that she couldn’t resist. Little things like that make it more interesting.