03 Jul 2017

Perks Competing Against Perks

When it comes to Silicon Valley companies and perks and benefits offered, people don’t mess around. Nearly every company here these days tend to offer standard medical, vision, and dental benefits, along with key man life insurance policies that can help employees during their tough times (those interested in learning more about this can look up keywords like “key man insurance quote” on the Web). Remember, all these perks are given regardless of the size of the business that they run. Many people would expect the bigger companies to be the only places that provide their employees with perks like health insurance, but this is simply untrue. Apparently, 35% of businesses who have a maximum of 15 employees offer such benefits too, so others should definitely follow suit if they are a company of a similar size. Fortunately, there is a lot of guidance that employers of companies, big or small, can refer to when they wish to make this change. For most people though, being gifted with these perks from their employers can definitely be seen as a positive.

When it comes to insurance though, employers can look at things like this relevant life insurance calculator to see how it can mutually benefit both the company and employees. And while that is fantastic for everywhere else around the world, it barely cuts it here. Instead, you have to go beyond that with catered breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day during the work week, onsite massages, Uber/Lyft credits, 4 months+ maternity and paternity leave, gym memberships, etc. The most extravagant perk I’ve heard about in recent months – coverage for women to freeze their eggs. That is a HUGE deal. Now, another company is getting into the mix with a unique set of perks that I’m hearing about for the first time.

The CEO of Boxed, Chieh Huang, is coming forward by announcing that employees will have their weddings paid for up to $20,000 and paying college tuition for his employees’ children. Now, amounts for the tuition weren’t disclosed and I’m still scratching my head at what that amount will be, but it’s still a very generous offering.

The idea behind the generous perks came to Huang when he visited employees in the Boxed warehouses. Some were struggling to make ends meets and to provide for their children’s future, hence the tuition program. The wedding idea came from talking to an employee named Marcel who was taking a second job because he was paying for his mother’s health care and planning a wedding. The payments are meaningful for both Huang and the employees, as you can see in a video of the moment. When asked by NBC News, Marcel explained how important it is, “You’re helping us breathe a little, looking towards the future.”

[Source]

Posted on July 3, in Life