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I work in the US and since the Great Recession the swag that we used to get around the office (e.g. t-shirts, ice cream days) have really dried up. Spending on
by bobochan 7y ago
I work in the US and since the Great Recession the swag that we used to get around the office (e.g. t-shirts, ice cream days) have really dried up. Spending on buildings, on the other hand, has increased rapidly.
Last year I went to a meeting in France that was held in a rather old building in Grenoble. It was a day long meeting so they brought in a boxed lunch for everyone. Shocking. There was some sushi, chicken in pasta, hot rolls, chocolate cake, and two small bottles of wine and water. It was fantastic.
I was slow on the uptake, but then it hit me, given a choice between spending money on people or things, they chose to spend it on people. Honestly, a total shock for me.
- Sahhaese 7y agoOr they put on a show because they had visitors in...
- BurningFrog 7y agoIn high tax countries, you spend a lot on untaxed benefits for the employees. In Silicon Valley I make 3 times as much (after tax) as I made in my high tax European country, but my work place life is crap in comparison.
- sharadov 7y agoDon't they have free food and a foosball/ping-pong table? Isn't that pretty much a staple? Or, is it the co-workers that suck?
- BurningFrog 7y agoIn one of my European jobs we'd have quarterly "seminars", where we ostensibly studied something. But they were really quite costly parties at exotic locations.
- esoterica 7y agoCatered lunches are a very common perk in the US too.