The Trendy Perks Employees Don't Want | Hacker News Reader

The Trendy Perks Employees Don't Want

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21 pointspseudolus6 comments

Instead of unlimited leave, I think companies should have mandatory leave. If you require every employee to take a few weeks off in a year, it removes any sort of pressure to avoid taking a day off, while unlimited leave does the opposite, in my opinion. And it benefits the company too - it makes sure that there isn't a single person who is so critical to operations that they can't take a day off (reducing the "bus factor").

Some companies already do have obligatory “compliance” leave, especially in the finance field.

Or both. My current employer has unlimited time-off and I personally insist that every one on my team takes at least two one week long breaks every year.

Sometimes you can tell someone is starting to burn themselves out. I figure it's better to take the (possible) productivity hit from them being out for a week or two versus the long term hits of either them being at work and just performing horribly, or quitting altogether.

It is my experience that the more perks a company has, the worse the culture. Too many perks now act as a large red flag, as it suggests that the company cannot retain staff without them.

To a point. A company with zero perks feels like wage-slaving, but too many feels like a frathouse. There seems to be a sweet spot depending on average age of employee. Older companies do better with parent friendly perks, while younger orgs benefit from 'being mom' and taking care of laundry, food, etc. While I agree that too many perks is usually a smokescreen ahemgoogleahem, having none usually reflects badly too in my view.

If the company is being logical about this: the more perks a company has, the higher the local taxes.

If the employees would all be spending money on something, it is better for the company to buy it. That keeps the money from being taxed as personal income.

There may also be a "buy in bulk" advantage.

In locations with poor weather or slow travel or complicated entry/exit procedures, food-related perks also save lots of time. Going out to get something could take a very long time.

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