| Top
5 Requested Fringe Benefits |
| Discounts/free
home PCs/gear |
36% |
| Discounts/free
home Internet |
23% |
| Spa/health
club memberships |
21% |
| Company
automobile |
17% |
| Mobile/wireless
phone |
17% |
| Source:
techies.com online compensation survey, October
2000 |
|
 |
Survey:
What fringe benefits do techies REALLY want?
Home
PCs, Internet access, and health clubs lead techies.com survey.
By
Cynthia Morgan
Give
a technologist a choice of perks and he or she is liable to
pick ? technology. In a recent techies.com compensation
survey, tech services and equipment took three of the five
top spots for best fringe benefits.
We asked 987 full-time technology employees what three additional
benefits - outside standard health care and retirement
programs - they'd most like their employer to introduce.
We offered a list of 40 different options, ranging from standards
like company-paid relocation and free coffee and soda to far-out
perks such as pet daycare and dancing lessons.
Home
convenience strikes big.
Our
respondents stuck largely with the sober side of fringes,
choosing workstyle-enhancing options. More than a third -
351, or 36 percent - wanted discounted or free PC equipment
for use at home. Not surprisingly, employer-supplied home
Internet access came in second, requested by 230 of those
surveyed. And 17 percent would like their companies to offer
mobile phones and other wireless connections to technology
workers.
The importance of employer-supplied remote office tools is
growing among techies; greater telecommuting freedom was also
a popular benefit among those surveyed. More and more technology
professionals use a home office for at least part of their
40-hour workweek. The International Telework Association and
Council estimates that one in five will work at home at least
one day per week within the year. And analyst firm Gartner
Group predicts that more than 137 million U.S. residents will
be telecommuting by 2003.
Techies
want more than entertainment.
Employer-sponsored health club memberships placed third in
our survey, with 21 percent requesting them. But our techies
rarely requested other entertainment-related perks, such as
game rooms, sports lessons, and golf club memberships.
Only 2 percent asked for employer-paid relocation but that
doesn't necessarily mean it's an unwanted perk. As one lucky
techie noted: "My company already offers most of the things
on your list."
Others aren't so lucky. About 6 percent of the techies who
answered our survey said they'd rather concentrate on getting
basic benefits, such as health care and a good retirement
plan, before they worried about free phones or massages. Others
put in strong bids for some type of childcare, especially
onsite daycare. And several wondered when benefits for domestic
partners would become standard practice at U.S. companies.
Other top fringe requests:
- Vacation
discounts and more time off
- Free
meals during late-night overtime
- Help
in adopting children
- Sabbaticals
- Financial
help with home purchases
Least popular:
- Free
sports lessons
- Free
hair cuts
- Free
dancing lessons
- Free
dry cleaning
- Free
movies
|
