Office Perks in the Era of WFH

Recruiting in Software as far back as 20 years ago, I had the opportunity to visit clients in Silicon Valley and marvel at offices filled with in-house perks. I distinctly remember walking through offices with ping pong tables, lunch cafes, and fringe benefits that made offices look and feel more like social venues than bare functional office spaces that I had become accustomed to in my early career in the '90s.

I left hi-tech search in 2007, so it's been a while since I've seen some of the perks firsthand.  However, from what I've read, The perks also get more creative. Companies continue to turn to workplace perks to attract employees. Creating rich perks gives candidates a glimpse into the company culture.

Then the Pandemic came along

I wondered what magnetism these offices maintained with employees becoming accustomed to working from home.

Before the Pandemic, many organizations offer perks to attract and retain employees. So, if extras, in essence, cancel each other out. What is left?

Flexibility

Working from home can increase your employees' performance, productivity and creativity.

In a recent 'Global Work-from-Home Experience Survey,' 73% of employees surveyed say they are very successful working from home. However, only 19% of Employees surveyed in North America wanted to say goodbye to the office for good. So, 81% prefer the best of both worlds, the flexibility to work-from-home, and the ability to go into the office. The future of jobs after the pandemic is a blurry mix of work, life, and Zoom meeting. The number one aspect employees cited was their ability to spend more time with their families (34%). The second was skipping the commute (29%).

Coming out of the Pandemic, employers will need to look closely at what would work best. How do you offer employees work-life balance while giving them access to a cool office space to get out of the house once in a while? Larger employers will continue to lease space that will only be partially occupied but will likely reduce their number of offices. Smaller companies will need to look at other options such as shared office spaces, increasing events, and drive virtual contact within the company instead of sharing an office space where the cost may be prohibitive.