Quirky Office Perks at the 2015 Best Places to Work Include Breast Milk Shipping
Companies offer trips to Antarctica, two-month breaks and breast milk shipping.
-- Polish up your resumes. Glassdoor's 2015 50 Best Places to Work includes the cream of the crop of employers, which offer workers everything from massages to two months of rest time, not to mention lots of free stuff.
Careers website Glassdoor compiled the ratings based on online survey reviews from anonymous employees between Nov. 13, 2013, and Nov. 2, 2014.
Here are some of the perks:
1. Baby Bonding Time for Dads and Moms
A particularly interesting benefit at Google Inc. (No. 1) is that both dads and moms have access to up to 12 weeks of baby bonding time, while biological moms have an additional six weeks of medical maternity leave. And the headquarters in Mountain View, California, has childcare nearby.
2. Massages
Googlers have access to massages based on bonuses or by paying out of pocket. If a co-worker does something particularly helpful, you can award them with a massage credit at the on-site masseuse.
3. Global Experience: Trek to Antarctica
Consulting company Bain and Company (No. 2) emphasizes community volunteering and social impact initiatives, including an annual Antarctica Expedition. The trek started in 2013 and next year will be the third year for the expedition.
The company encourages its consultants to gain international experience, so assigns workers on global cases, including short- and long-term transfers. Half of Bain employees had international experience last year, the company said. Employees can also participate in the annual Bain World Cup, a global soccer tournament just for employees, which is the largest annual gathering of Bain people.
4. Two Months Off? Sure
Bain offers flexible work options, including what it calls the "Take 2" program. Eligible Bain employees can take an extended break, typically two months, "to rejuvenate and/or fulfill personal goals," the Bain website states.
5. Fitbits for New Employees
At real estate marketplace Zillow (No. 33), all full-time employees received Fitbits last year. New full-time employees that started after this point receive a new Fitbit on their first day. Other ways to stay fit at Zillow include communal treadmill desks in every office and weekly in-office yoga classes in the Seattle headquarters.
6. More Free Gadgets
At Zillow's 2014 end-of-year company meeting, all full-time employees received a Kindle Fire HD6 Tablet. The company provided complimentary Kindle copies of "The Tipping Point," by Malcolm Gladwell; "Lean In," by Sheryl Sandberg; "Creativity, Inc." by Ed Catmull; and "Built to Last," by Jim Collins.
7. IT Help With Beer
Zillow hosts an "IT Happy Hour" during which members from Zillow's in-house IT team will help troubleshoot employee's tech problems over a beer.
8. Breast Milk Help
Zillow equips each mother's room with hospital-grade pumps and all the individual parts, which on their own can cost thousands of dollars for a new mom to purchase.
If you’re a nursing mom and your position requires you to travel, Zillow will pay to ship your breast milk back home overnight.