Ask HN: What perks do you want when looking for a job? - leonagano
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borplk
Companies chronically escape from offering real "perks".

Instead they insult their employees with ping-pong tables and snacks and Xbox.

Even the famous "unlimited vacation" is a complete and utter scam to shame and
guilt people and also to avoid having to pay for accrued vacation time that
normally you would be entitled to.

Some even list their garbage noisy open office as a "perk". Yeah Bob it's a
great perk for employees to have to use noise cancelling headphones to get
their work done while everyone "collaborates" about TV shows.

First they pick something that benefits them, then they reverse engineer some
kind of happy story about how it's really a perk for their employees ... let's
save some money on office space because .. uhhh ... "collaboration!" yeah
that's right ... SO GOOD!

Let's save more ... you don't really need that desk all the time eh? HOT
DESKING. So HOT! So FLEXIBLE! you're welcome.

Vacation? easy! unlimited! just take "what you need" wink wink
([http://archive.is/ByJ8X](http://archive.is/ByJ8X))

The situation has turned so bad that even the very basics can be considered
perks.

Like .. uh ... a quiet fucking office with some sunlight, you know ... for
getting work done?

If they were actually interested they could offer lots of genuine perks.

For example one week extra holiday on top of what the minimum is (government
requires 4 weeks? offer minimum 5 weeks in good faith)

Another one, establish and enforce a culture of not working overtime. For
example if everyone is working 9 to 5 at a company, have a culture of kicking
everyone out and shutting down at 5 unless in very very exceptional cases.

Wanna go further? Make remote a thing. For example if it's a traditional Mon-
Fri 9-5 shop, establish remote Wednesdays for anyone who wants it.

Another one? Reduce work hours by 1 hour every day. Instead of 9-5 make 9-4
the standard in your company.

Wanna show you really mean it with the perks? Keep the market salaries and
make the work week 4 days. Anyone fortunate enough to work for your company
gets Wednesdays off.

Admittedly some of those are quite bold but I think they only sound so bold
because no one is even trying to actually offer tangible perks. Many companies
have enough fat that they could afford it.

~~~
leonagano
I read that some companies offer fruits and coffee all day in the office as
benefits!

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deft
Right now I'm looking for remote-allowed and flexible hours. I've learned
through experience that I can't deal with 5 days a week at a cramped office in
a cubicle. Health benefits are obviously nice too and large vacation time :)

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gusmd
I'm aware that I'm unlikely to ever find another job with the same perk, but
I'm ever to go looking for one, I'd really like to have a private office (with
a door! and windows!) like I do now.

