20 Companies With the Best Job Perks

Posted on by RetailGuy
 It’s probably not a shock to anyone, but if you want the best job perks, you’re not going to find them working in retail.  Out of the 20 companies rated by Glassdoor with the best perks, only 1 (R.E.I.) is a retail company.   While Netflix, Pinterest and  offers one paid year of paternity/maternity leave for new parents and Spotify all offer paid time off for new parents and Facebook rewards them with $4,000 in cash, when you’re pregnant at my company all you get is “How long before the birth can you keep working?” and “How soon after you get out of labor can you come back? We need you here.”   And three catered meals a day, Twitter?   We get the food we bought ourselves thrown out on Friday if it’s still in the refrigerator.   I can’t say it’s all bad though, once a year at inventory time the store might spring for a pizza…

For most workers, getting free office coffee and paid vacation—maybe even a few weeks of maternity leave!—is considered a job perk. But for the lucky employees of a small subset of companies, showing up to work means free meals, free classes, random days off to enjoy nature or volunteer, and even extra cash for that new baby or favorite charity cause. 

In 2014, the recruitment site Glassdoor created a feature where employees could review their company’s job perks. This week, the site made some of the coolest employee benefits public (and we almost wish they hadn’t).

Here are 20 companies offering some of the most unusual, enticing perks shared with Glassdoor between August 2014 and late January 2016, as well as the companies’ overall benefits rated on the site’s five-star scale (asterisks refer to companies with less than 20 reviews):

1. Netflix offers one paid year of maternity and paternity leave to new parents. They also allow parents to return part-time or full-time and take time off as needed throughout the year.

2. REI encourages its employees to get outside by offering two paid days off, called “Yay Days,” a year to enjoy their favorite outside activity.

3. Salesforce employees receive six days of paid volunteer time off a year, as well as $1,000 a year to donate to a charity of their choice.

4. Spotify provides six months of paid parental leave, plus one month of flexible work options for parents returning to the office. The company also covers costs for egg freezing and fertility assistance.

5. World Wildlife Fund employees take Friday off every other week, also known as “Panda Fridays” at the nonprofit.

6. Airbnb, Glassdoor’s Best Place to Work in 2016, gives its employees an annual stipend of $2,000 to travel and stay in an Airbnb listing anywhere in the world.

7. PwC offers its employees $1,200 per year for student loan debt reimbursement.

8. Pinterest provides a unique take on the parental leave policy by providing three paid months off, plus an additional month of part-time hours, as well as two counseling sessions to create a plan to re-enter the workplace.

9. Burton employees receive season ski passes and “snow days” to hit the slopes after a big snowfall.

10. Twilio offers employees a Kindle plus $30 a month to purchase books.

11. Twitter is well-known for providing perks such as three catered meals a day, but some lesser-known benefits include on-site acupuncture and improv classes.

12. Accenture covers gender reassignment for their employees as part of their commitment to LGBTQ rights and diversity.

13. Walt Disney Company wants its employees to enjoy the “Happiest Place on Earth” as much as their visitors by offering free admission to its parks for employees, plus their friends and family, as well as discounts on hotels and merchandise.

14. Facebook provides $4,000 in “Baby Cash” to employees with a newborn.

15. Evernote hosts classes through “Evernote Academy,” which offers team-building courses like macaroon baking.

16. Epic Systems Corporation offers employees a paid four-week sabbatical to pursue their creative talents after 5 years at the company.

17. Adobe shuts down the entire company for one week in December and one week over the summer.

18. Asana employees have access to executive and life coaching services outside of the company.

19. Zillow pays for employees who are traveling to ship their breast milk.

20. Google provides the surviving spouse or partner of a deceased employee 50% of their salary for the next ten years.

It’s not just the Googles and Facebooks that are uncommonly generous with their employees, but alas, there still aren’t very many employers willing to take on your student loan debt. If you’re researching a new career, it may be worth taking things like travel stipends, super-flexible parental leave policies, and free egg-freezing into account along with your salary requirements.