Work Perks Can Become "Golden Handcuffs"
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) — While there are some companies where perks cap out at free coffee, there are other places where workers are showered with luxuries including on-site massages, getaways and free food stipends.
India Cosper is employed by the latter and loves it.
Cosper recently started working at Allied Wallet, an e-commerce services company ranked among Fortune Magazine's "10 Great Workplaces For Millenials."
"A lot of the perks just surpass everything I could imagine: Friday lunches, weekly massages, a $50 stipend in the cafe downstairs. It's really incredible," Cosper said.
Moe Diab, Allied Wallet's COO, said there was a reason for offering employees these kinds of perks.
Click here to watch Brian Andrews' report.
"We wanted this place to be an escape for people, so when people come to work, they can just be happy," said Diab.
"We do work very hard, but we also have a lot of fun, too," Cosper said.
Google remains a popular destination among tech workers for their notable perks including unlimited gourmet food and beverages, on-site gyms and creative workspaces. Facebook and Apple recently announced they will now pay for egg freezing, a procedure for women who choose to delay childbearing.
"If you're in an industry with an extremely tight labor supply, such as high tech, you could make an argument that they're as important as the arms race to get more than your share of programmers," said Gerry Ledford of University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business.
Ledford has researched employee reward systems for 35 years. He cautions job seekers about the lure of enticing work perks, saying they are often "golden handcuffs" to longer hours.
"What's more important to employees is how much they're paid, what kind of standard benefits they get, what kind of job that they do, what their relationships are like at work," said Ledford. "Such things are going to far outweigh the value of a few fun perks."
He said job seekers should make sure the perks don't mask other motives, such as lower salaries or reduction in benefits.
So, if given the choice, would an employee rather have a higher salary or the perks?
Prizes and benefits were not initially part of Cosper's job-hunt criteria, she's enjoying the extra benefits and says, at the end of the day, it's not all about the paycheck.
"I don't think that the money outweighs the perks. Given the choice, I would happily keep my salary as-is and keep getting the perks, rather than working in a more boring office that doesn't have those sort of fun additions with a higher salary," she said.
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