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Ask HN: What benefits are important to you when choosing a job?

• jimmyswimmy 3y ago
  In the US so health insurance and PTO, then 401k. Hate unlimited vacation, I like owning my time off. I'm a hardware engineer so remote work isn't very important for me. I don't really want a full lab at my home. Other things are nice but pale in comparison to having good work, good coworkers, good boss, and management I can respect.
  • michaelmior 3y ago
    > Hate unlimited vacation, I like owning my time off. I'm curious what you mean by "owning" your time off. I wonder if this is moreso a problem with how unlimited vacation is sometimes implemented than the idea of unlimited vacation itself.
    • Vinnl 3y ago
      I don't think there's a good way to implement it, unless it's actually unlimited, i.e. you can stay at home for two years while getting paid and it's fine. If that's not fine, then it's not actually unlimited, and you have to guess where the limit is - so you can't really be guaranteed a certain number of days off. Though I guess an org could still set a minimum and then call it unlimited, though in practice I expect that that minimum is basically also the maximum.
    • snide 3y ago
      If you leave a normal job, you'd be paid your accrued vacation leave. In "unlimited" setups, this gets murky, and normally turns into two weeks. Without a decent ledger, there becomes a stigma to actually using the time. When you "own" that time, it removes the anxiety for both parties.
    • nicoburns 3y ago
      The problem is that "unlimited vacation" is (obviously) not actually unlimited. All it really means is that you can never be quite sure how much vacation you are entitled to. It will of course depend on the company, but as I understand it, "unlimited vacation" rarely actually means that you get even as much as is legally mandated by most European countries (4-6 weeks a year).
    • sokoloff 3y ago
      If you have a fixed PTO allocation, in most states and circumstances, you literally "own" that time. If you are fired, that balance must be paid out. In most states, if you quit, that balance must be paid out. Like GP, I'm strongly opposed to "unlimited PTO" policies. For the few devs and workers that are helped by it, I think there are too many cases where the ambiguity and uncertainty makes people take less PTO than under a fairly generous, spelled-out policy (and there is usually no accrued balance to be paid out if you leave having taken less than the normal amount). I won't go quite so far as to say I'd quit if my company made the transition, but it is a strong negative if that is on the benefits docket.
  • hoagsobject 3y ago
    >Hate unlimited vacation In my company it means you can take the time off whenever you want, but we are understaffed, so if you take time off the whole project will be stopped and we won't raise money. But of course you can take vacation as much as you want. So for the last 2 years I have had max 3 consecutive days off (and only once). I will never buy bs "unlimited PTO" again.
    • rjbwork 3y ago
      Sounds like a problem for management, not you. Go take your vacation and stop being abused and exploited by management.
      • hoagsobject 3y ago
        We are super small company, there is no management. I'm teamlead/backend developer/project manager. If I go, the whole development stops. That's how it is. But yeah, I started sending my CV already.
  • altdataseller 3y ago
    What constitutes excellent health insurance for you? Is it the company they offer it from? (Ie United healthcare)? How much premiums they pay for? What do you look for in a 401k?
• dsm4ck 3y ago
  Unlimited PTO is a scam and if anything makes an offer look less attractive.
  • hhmc 3y ago
    I've seen (rarely) unlimited with enforced minimum, which fixes the worst problems
    • leetrout 3y ago
      This is the best case scenario. I too subscribe to "unlimited PTO" being a scam. 1. It is NOT unlimited and should be illegal to advertise that 2. It is still at management discretion so it's not like you can be sure you can always take off whenever you want. 3. It is usually capped at 2 or 3 consecutive weeks so even if there is a minimum of 4 weeks you can't take all 4 at once at many companies. 4. Companies are happy to nickel and dime you but they abhor it happening to them and this is, IMO, largely a play to avoid vacation accrual and/or vacation time payout. Then there's stuff like this: > Paid time off (PTO) is not considered part of an employee's salary, so it can be docked without jeopardizing the employee's exempt status ... the court held that PTO is a fringe benefit with monetary value, not a component of salary under federal law. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/employment-law/pages/paid-time-off-deduction.aspx https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/...
    • eb0la 3y ago
      For me it has two problems: - Legal - in some places people has the right to take a minimum vacation days per year. If you as a manager don't enforce a minimum, then you're putting a legal risk. - Personal - When I joined the team one person had 6 vacation days last year. She was burnt but didn't knew it. It was hard to notice since she was an hyperactive person that took long hours because she lived in a place where nothing to do. Having mandatory time off made her think about her life.
  • eb0la 3y ago
    Depends on how it is managed. We have unlimited PTO, AND I require _all_ team members to have a minimum (22) vacation days. It it is a concern to you, please ask during interview.
• lillecarl 3y ago
  Remote work, 30 days minimum vacation. The rest is governed by law in Sweden. Edit: 25 days vacation is the minimum vacation
  • McDyver 3y ago
    I wouldn't say it's by law, I'd say it's governed by the unions. If the company you're applying to doesn't have CBA, you might not have some benefits you might be taking for granted, namely pension (ITP)
• noodlesUK 3y ago
  Some companies (especially in the US) have unlimited PTO. I don’t like that. I think the better benefit is a large amount of defined leave. Preferably the company will have a mandatory leave policy.
  • michaelmior 3y ago
    What's the concern with unlimited PTO? (You're not the only one in this thread to express this and I'm legitimately curious.)
    • mr_mitm 3y ago
      Without an enforced minimum you could be pressured either actively or passively into not taking as much PTO as you would have otherwise.
    • antasvara 3y ago
      Because it's not actually unlimited in practice. After all, you would definitely be fired for taking an entire year off. So, when a company says "unlimited," what it tends to mean in reality is "there's a limit, but we won't tell you what it is." This manifests itself in people with unlimited PTO taking (on average) less time off than people with defined number of days. When you have a defined number of days, you know exactly what the limit is. In my experience, this results in people using most (if not all) of their vacation days. I will note that this largely seems to be a US thing.
    • soVeryTired 3y ago
      I have it and strongly dislike it. “Undefined PTO” is a much better term than “Unlimited PTO”. There is a limit, the company just delegates the definition of that limit to team leads. It makes planning holidays uncomfortable since it’s never quite clear whether you’re pushing a boundary. Generally I just stick to the UK norm of 25-27 days plus public holidays. A generous but fixed allowance that you’re actually expected to use in full would be a much better system.
    • danwee 3y ago
      From my perspective (with is not the American one): it feels like for every PTO day you need to convince your team/manager to get that day off. It's like they are making you a favour. Also, I know beforehand that "unlimited" is not unlimited (I think it's kinda obvious), but then how many days can I ask for? Is it 10? Is it 15? Is it 28? Let's say I have already asked 20 days off, and I see around most of my colleagues have only asked 10, that may trigger on me the idea of "damn, I probably shouldn't ask another day off". Or perhaps my manager thinks that I have been taking "too many" days off already. So, "unlimited" PTO is highly subjective. I prefer to be explicit about it and state the exact number of vacation days I am entitled to.
• rjbwork 3y ago
  Good health insurance is table stakes. 401k match is nice, but not as crucial to people making as much as well paid tech workers. Remote work and unlimited PTO are amazing bennies. It just lets you deal with life as it comes and, when other things in life line up, go take extended trips/vacations and work from somewhere else and experience other locales. It truly enables working to live, rather than living to work. I will say though that unlimited vacation has to have a good company culture around it, otherwise it's just a scam that encourages people to overwork and burnout.
  • altdataseller 3y ago
    What constitutes excellent health insurance for you? Is it the company they offer it from? (Ie United healthcare)? How much premiums they pay for?
• bsima 3y ago
  Remote work (because I need to be near family), then salary/total comp. Those are the only two things I really care about. I take advantage of insurance and 401k match etc when I can but it’s not the deciding factor.
• paulcole 3y ago
  • In-office work (for all employees) is #1 • Health insurance is a close second • Work hours are next most important • Reasonable salary and PTO matter but not hugely. As long as it’s generally fair I don’t need/want to wring every possible cent out of my employer. • I don’t value reimbursements, snacks, etc. at all. I’d rather just spend the money I’m paid on things I want.
  • jmpman 3y ago
    You’re the first person outside of the c-suite I’ve heard demand in-office work for everyone. Maybe you are in the c-suite?
    • jackdh 3y ago
      Sounds very much like management at least.
    • antasvara 3y ago
      Some people like being in the office. If you're a person that likes being in the office, it's not fun if there's nobody else in there with you (as is often the case in hybrid or remote-optional work environments). It's not for everyone, and it's certainly not something that I'm interested in. But it's not unreasonable that someone prefers in office and isn't management.
    • marcin_pikusa 3y ago
      I have the same: - I don't have great work conditions at home - I live in the city so commuting is not a problem(currently it's 7 min by bike) - I enjoy having face to face contact with coworkers I still can work remotely but I mostly work from office
    • paulcole 3y ago
      Nope! I just prefer working in-office with other people in an office.
  • danwee 3y ago
    > • In-office work (for all employees) is #1 Why for all employees? Why not just for your team? Or your area? Or your department? E.g., if you are an engineer, why do you care that the marketing team has to be in the office as well? Unless C-level. Then I would understand.
• datavirtue 3y ago
  Top notch high deductible health insurance. A managed debit card to pay the deductible (company paid). 401k match (negates the fees). Unlimited PTO. Flexible work schedule that is up to me. The health insurance plus debit card allow you to have an HSA you never have to touch. HSA is tax deferred, grows tax free once invested, and is tax free withdrawal at 72. The advanced age makes this somewhat unattractive but you can use the money before that (at 60+) for healthcare expenses. Stay away from the free snacks so you don't have to use your HSA.
  • ryandrake 3y ago
    > HSA is tax deferred, grows tax free once invested, and is tax free withdrawal at 72. Careful. They grow tax free at the Federal level, but if you are in California, your HSA gains are subject to state tax. If your HSA investments pay taxable interest or dividends, or if you sell something at a gain, you'll owe additional income taxes in California.
• franze 3y ago
  In Europe Austria where Health Insurance is a given: max 32h work week (4 days), good pay and remote or hybrid is what people - in my bubble - are looking for.
  • fellerts 3y ago
    What bubble is this? I might be out of touch, but I've always considered a 4 day work week to be fairly uncommon.
    • franze 3y ago
      Tech / Dev - Bubble in Central Europe
      • wink 3y ago
        No idea about Austria but ~10y ago it was very uncommon in Germany and kinda common in Switzerland. For Germany I can only talk about developer and general "office" jobs, whereas in the social sector and in retail 32h/4d were more common. From what I heard in Switzerland it didn't really matter where you worked, if you wanted to go 4 days it was not a stretch of imagination (maybe still only white collar jobs). Have lost my connections so no idea how it is now, but going to 4 days has gotten some uptick in Germany.
• Vinnl 3y ago
  Being able to have a three-day weekend.
  • jackdh 3y ago
    Ideally with the rule being company wide so that your not ostracized for taking it.
• robviren 3y ago
  Beyond the typical, I have the luxury of working at a nonprofit where my day to day effort does not simply go towards the increasing of someone else's yatch purchases. I am an extremely jaded person and find it difficult to apply myself when I see the extraordinary waste that big businesses produce. Oh, you want me to work hard and be efficient but you get to expense everything under the sun and get above inflation pay raises. I see a lot less of that at a nonprofit.
• dsr_ 3y ago
  I live in the USA, so if they don't have excellent health insurance, it's a non-starter. I'm past the likelihood of doing another degree myself, but having a robust education reimbursement suggests that they are investing properly in employee growth. If they aren't within about a 20 minutes commute, they need to have remote work available. I don't mind coming in occasionally for longer distances, but remote work is now a competitive standard, not an option. Everything else is negotiable. Flexible policies about PTO are, I think, better than 'unlimited PTO' -- be generous and have flexibility at every manager's discretion, we'll be good.
  • altdataseller 3y ago
    What constitutes excellent health insurance for you? Is it the company they offer it from? (Ie United healthcare)? How much premiums they pay for?
    • dsr_ 3y ago
      The second part is easy to judge across companies; the first part is harder. For example, I won't work for a company whose health insurance only has religiously-affiliated hospitals. That's almost 1/5 of US hospitals, and it generally means that they put their religious goals above my choices.
• RcouF1uZ4gsC 3y ago
  Unlimited PTO would be a negative. It really isn’t unlimited, and it is basically a hidden number in your managers’s head. With defined PTO, everyone knows how many days you are entitled to. In addition, if you get laid off, you get money for your unused vacation days. Other than the usual health insurance, etc, the biggest thing I am looking for would be full-time remote.
  • datavirtue 3y ago
    Not sure where you work but absolutely nowhere do managers tell devs what to do. They just have to accept whatever time they take off. At GE everyone I knew took a lot of time off--including myself. At least 30 days per year and some quite a bit more. If you took less it was because your group didn't have a budget hammered out and all work had stopped anyway. I knew a dev that built houses until we had funded projects. I didn't work any of December in addition to my ad-hoc vacations throughout the year. Life lived. In no way shape or form do I like earned PTO. That's the scam. I'm a highly paid consultant/partner/owner now and I have to fund my time off. Do not like it. I'm paying maximum taxes on all of my PTO. Tax position has a huge impact for high earners and getting boxed into a non-optimal rule/strategy is very costly. When I take time off I don't bill, and I have to pay out of savings AND I pay tax on the savings. Meh.
• jmpman 3y ago
  The weight loss medications I’m on are over $1k/month. My current company doesn’t cover them. After losing almost 70lbs in a year (using a $25/month coupon), I’m now looking at $15k/year in order to keep this weight off. That, and remote work. I have no interest in ever going back into the office. Even a modest 30min commute each way just feels like an unnecessary waste of my life. It’s like writing a document for hours which will only be read by your manager, and then for your manager to provide you with detailed feedback on how to improve the document, and expect you to update the document. I could do without that too.
  • jackdh 3y ago
    Out of interest and only if you're comfortable sharing, what is this medication?
    • jmpman 3y ago
      Mounjaro. There are similar ones, such as Wegovy. They’re both over $1k/month, but an absolute game changer in weight loss and weight management. Unfortunately the studies following discontinuation of these medications, show that the weight comes back - yes, even with diet and exercise.
      • totallywrong 3y ago
        > even with diet and exercise. Sorry but if you use more calories than you consume, how can that be the case? It just seems like a big commitment to spend 1k a month indefinitely.
        • jmpman 3y ago
          I’m happy to cite the studies. Certainly the people did consume more than they exercised, but the results were pretty universal. I’d like to think I was special, but likely just the same as others. When I was in my 20’s and 30’s, diet and exercise worked. Now that I’m in my 40’s… not so much. There seems to be more benefit than just weight loss. Cardiovascular health dramatically improves. My blood pressure is now normal. My brain seems to function better, as if I were 25 again. Alcohol doesn’t seem to have much lure any more. I may drink 3 drinks a week, compared to 10 prior, and now it’s just to be social. I could drink a non-alcoholic beer, and it would have virtually the same impact - pleasure wise.
• nickjj 3y ago
  Remote ranks number 1 for me. Being flexible with working hours and PTO is another. Most other benefits can be solved with your base salary figure. For example, if you don't offer health insurance but you pay +$15,000 more than a competitor then it doesn't matter. You could make a case this is preferred because now the employee has a choice on what to do with that money. I've seen a number of interesting things over the years like every Friday off for 3-4 months during the summer or $250 towards holiday meals near the end of the year. Gestures like this go a long ways and could be an indicator that the company understands employee happiness.
• h1fra 3y ago
  It's funny to see all the US comments being like "what Europeans are getting by default".
  • totallywrong 3y ago
    We pay for it though, with lower salaries and higher taxes.
    • stevekemp 3y ago
      But those taxes mean that things like health-care, childcare, schools, public transport, and all those other things work well. Sure more money would be nice, but having decent maternity/paternity leave, a good work-life balance, no expectation of working on-call for free, etc, all add up. For me benefits I value include a nice central office, free transport allowance, free phone, a decent sauna, interesting colleagues, and the ability to work from home as/when I feel the mood take me.
      • totallywrong 3y ago
        I've experienced the sweet EU benefits and the quality of life those taxes provide, and also having none of that while making top dollar. As a younger engineer, it's probably a good idea to go for the latter. But for the last stretch of my career I'd choose the security for sure.
    • h1fra 3y ago
      I mean yes, it's fair game. Benefits without paying just mean someone else is paying the cost for us.
• baz00 3y ago
  I expect a reasonably large holiday entitlement, fully remote working and a realistic salary, not reduced by the benefits package. The benefits are however much less important than not working for complete fuckwits. Edit: +healthcare if I lived somewhere that was a problem!
• prometheus76 3y ago
  I keep a very strict boundary between work time and not-work time. I quickly respond to emails and phone calls during work hours, but I do not have email on my phone and I don't check my email when I'm not at work. Only my boss has my cell number. It's not published in the company directory. There are rare times when a critical report has gone down (I'm a BI developer) when my boss will call me, and that's fine. But I make it a strong point to keep those to a minimum and to keep the boundary between work and home life very solid.
• JLCarveth 3y ago
  You guys have the luxury of picking jobs? I'll take whatever I can get at this point.
• lbotos 3y ago
  I’m more interested with the story behind your username OP. What Alt Data are you selling?
• j0hnyl 3y ago
  I wouldn't consider a job that's not 100% remote.
  • bilekas 3y ago
    While I appreciate fully remote can be a nice perk for some people, comments like this expecting it to be a requirement is so strange. So nothing of salary, actual project you would be working on, people you might be working with etc. Nope, if I don't work remote I don't work. Sounds a little 'entitled' to me, but each to their own.
    • j0hnyl 3y ago
      It's a question of what you value. I find remote work much more productive and I loathe commuting. I value location independence. Of course this is all given the choice between one or the other. If I couldn't find work and was desperate, I would do what it takes, and so would most people. On the topic of salary, yes if you offer me a fuck ton of money I would be willing to commute to an office, but the sum that would make it worth it is just not realistic. It's tough to put a price on comfort and time. Not sure how it's entitled though, there are some employers that are ok with full remote and others that aren't. How is it entitled to not consider potential employers that are demanding the opposite of what I want in a job?
• ajb 3y ago
  "unlimited PTO" is not a benefit. I want the clear right to an amount of PTO, not the opportunity to negotiate for it . As such, a company advertising "unlimited PTO" goes to the bottom of my list as having dishonest management. Remote work is my #1 Health insurance didn't used to be important in the UK but it's looking like it might be in the future.
  • kaesar14 3y ago
    This depends on culture. I've taken amounts of PTO that are unfathomable as an enumerated quantity of days. Think 35-45 days off in a year.
    • waiwai933 3y ago
      I have a contractual right to 37 days in the UK, so it's not unfathomable.
      • kaesar14 3y ago
        For most Americans, it is definitely out of reach.
        • waiwai933 3y ago
          Sure, but given the commenter you were replying to was in the UK, it's not an insane figure in the UK even if 45 is on the high-end.
        • kcplate 3y ago
          I am in the US and have 35+ days in my package and cannot fathom a situation short of major illness where I will use them all in a calendar year. I realize that it is cultural and probably due my generation’s reputation for work ethic and disregard for work/life balances. I also have been lucky in that I am rarely sick enough to miss work and being remote just means you power through it (I have lost only a half day to sick time in the last 15 years). I see sick days eating up a lot of my colleagues paid time off. I think on average I probably take a total of 20 days off a year, broken out as 10 days around Christmas/new years, 5 mid/late summer, then 5 around other holidays to extend a weekend.
• leokennis 3y ago
  From The Netherlands 1. Company culture where people are not dickheads to each other, and take into account that their colleagues are also humans with lives outside work 2. Working 4 instead of 5 days 3. Allowed to work 50% or more remote
• jenscow 3y ago
  unlimited PTO - rewards slackers, punishes workers and when you leave, you won't get paid for any untaken. Also, it's BS: unless I can take a year off on my first day, then it's not unlimited. IOW, "come work for me if you're gullible"
• ralferoo 3y ago
  Does the work sound like it'll still be interesting in a couple of years time? If I'm going to invest my time in a company, I want it to be something where I'll grow from it, and learning enough that it keeps me interested and engaged. If I know I'll want to leave within a year, what's the point in changing jobs? Does it pay enough that suggests they value my contribution and care about my ideas? Actually, my living costs are relatively low because I've paid off my house and don't have a family. I don't need the highest pay available, but conversely a low offer means that they almost certainly won't value the work I'll be doing. Location should be close to where I currently live, or somewhere I'd like to live, or fully remote. Unlimited PTO sounds terrible to me - most people will feel guilty for taking time off, and those that don't will be noticed by their manager as taking more PTO than everyone else. In the UK, there's a legal minimum anyway, and most companies give you 25 days plus public holidays (more than the minimum). Snacks, freebies, work events are just tweaks to quality of life. If you already love the job, they'll just make things even better. If you have any issues with the job, or if you're considering an offer elsewhere, these honestly make no difference in the grand scheme of things. Think what your hourly rate is, and pretty soon you'll realise that even getting free food when you work overtime is a terrible trade - e.g. the largest pizza you can order is probably still less than an hour's work, but you probably won't get food unless you're working multiple hours overtime. Also, fruit or snacks are cheap anyway. It's nice to not have to buy it, but really you're probably being paid more in the time it takes you to eat it than it cost. It's no big deal to buy your own if you're somewhere that doesn't provide free snacks!
• hardware2win 3y ago
  Full remote... and thats it, I think. Decent salary Interesting work
• Hisoka 3y ago
  [dead]
• eb0la 3y ago
  Flexibility. I work almoust fully remote. My team is distrubuted in 5 countries. When I hore anyone I want that person to be able to work from home and the office when they feel is best (like - for instance the #@! neigbour does renovation=). That includes beign able to get vacation (not just me, but my team as well) when I need it. And be able to disconnect and nothing (bad) happens.
• Haul4ss 3y ago
  We used to have unlimited PTO, and even in my interview I chided them that it's obviously not "unlimited". For a small, organically growing firm like my employer, unlimited PTO is just shorthand for "we don't have the back office staff to track this, so just don't abuse it". Yes, totally subjective, but the point is when you're scrappy you don't have time to make Policy all the livelong day. As we've grown and evolved we ditched the messaging of unlimited PTO because of the negative connotation it has that everyone here has rightfully pointed out. "Does unlimited mean none?" is a verbatim question I've fielded in an interview. Anyway, I explain OP's question as what I call the career trifecta: 1. You are working on things that have meaning to you 2. You enjoy working with the people around you 3. The pay and benefits give you space to pursue life's other interests Most people in the world don't get one of those, much less all three. I have all three and now I'm a spoiled brat and don't want to give up one of them to get more of the other (i.e., more salary doesn't make life better if you lose one of the other pillars).
• andreabergia 3y ago
  Remote is a requirement, due to family reasons. Salary. Vacations, health insurance, parental leave are all given by law here (Italy). But, if they weren't, I guess they'd be pretty important.
• danwee 3y ago
  In order (Western European perspective): - base salary - 100% remote - flexible schedule (I can start to work at 7am/8am/9am/etc.; If I need to do some errands at 2pm, I can just do it) - culture, product and tech stack. A standard no BS culture would suffice, but every company has its own shenanigans. A good product to work on would be nice, but I accept that the majority of products out there are just not needed at all. Also, I'm not anymore a zealot when it comes to the tech stack; and learning something new at the job is welcomed. - standard vacation days (as dictated by the law of the country). I see the majority of unlimited PTO as a scam. There's a difference between what it's my right (my official 20-30 vacation days per year as per the law that no-one can take away from me) and what company says should be my vacation days per year (wich is highly dependant on my team/manager). - at least in Western Europe, the health insurance is more or less the same everywhere, so it's not a perk in itself. - free lunch/snacks/videogames is not a perk from my perspective if you are over 30. Even less now if we work remotely. - education reimbursement could be nice, but I don't mind at all. I try to be self-substained when it comes to gathering knowledge that benefits my career - no on-call rotation. But I accept that this is getting harder and harder to negotiate
  • balfirevic 3y ago
    > free lunch/snacks/videogames is not a perk from my perspective if you are over 30. What does that mean? If someone considers it a perk - it's a perk, regardless how old they are. If you don't consider it a perk then it's not a perk for you - again, regardless how old you are.
  • JambalayaJim 3y ago
    >Free lunch/snacks/video games is not even a perk if you’re over 30 The effort of commuting to the office is far less than me preparing lunch for myself. Financially too since I just ride a bike. Not sure why my age matters. I don’t understand the appeal of video games at an office at all. Do people actually play them? If I didn’t have any more work to do I’d prefer just to go home. I guess playing games with teammates might be fun, but I’d rather just have free beer or something like that.
    • 3y ago
• shrikant 3y ago
  (Context for below: I live in London) I've grown to really appreciate and desire the "chilled out hybrid" model that some places are now offering -- primarily remote, but come into the office as much as or as little as you want, with a comfortable office that has the usual small company amenities. Edited to add: flexible hours to accompany the above! With this in place, I'd also look for an employer that's signed up the the Cycle2Work scheme, and has their office in a reasonably sensible location. And to be honest, with the state of the NHS these days, I'd really want private health/dental insurance on offer. I don't much care for the following [any more?]: * Parental leave (although I use the existence of a generous policy as an indicator of the workplace culture) * Unlimited PTO (I'd rather have clear expectations) * Games in the office (Nice to have, but I'm wary of what sort of working culture this might indicate)
• harimau777 3y ago
  A benefit that I'm surprised I don't see more often for offices is catered lunch. If you estimate that the employee was probably going to spend 5 to 10 dollars for a meal anyways, then that's effectively a roughly $1200 to $2400 raise. However, I'm guessing that the company can probably get less than $5 per meal since they are effectively buying in bulk. This seems like it would be a win win situation. The effective value of the employee's "raise" is more than what the employer has to spend on the "raise". Of course that's assuming that the company actually caters high quality, healthy food. If they try to cheap out then that all falls apart.
  • Forge36 3y ago
    It also assumes well behaved individuals with a buffet. My job serves food at cost of the food. They cover the culinary employees wages.
  • sokoloff 3y ago
    It's probably even better than that. If I'm going to spend $2400/yr on lunches (with after-tax money) and I'm in a 40% combined state/federal marginal tax bracket, that's consuming $4000 of gross pay annually. If my employer instead chooses to provide the meals, they are tax-free to me and 50% deductible to them, meaning the benefit that was consuming $4000 of expense to the company is now costing them perhaps $2000. (That's before assuming any efficiency other than tax treatment efficiency.)
  • JambalayaJim 3y ago
    It’s a win win beyond money. It helps me go into the workday without the mental load of procuring lunch. $10 for a meal is rather cheap these days too.
  • wink 3y ago
    But what about remote/semi-remote/a lot of WFH? Do you miss out on your benefit and it's your own fault? Is it mostly to draw people back into the office? I would have agreed 5-10 years ago, but now I find this kinda moot.
• Apreche 3y ago
  Taking a job is fundamentally a sale. I’m selling my labor to the employer. I want to exchange as little of my labor as possible for as much compensation as possible. Right now I’m working 4 days (32 hours) a week, entirely remotely, for enough money to live in NYC, and also the health insurance, 401k, and all that standard stuff. You want to lure me away? You’re going to have to beat that. Start by offering a 24 hour work week.
• androa 3y ago
  Disclaimer: I work in Norway so pension, health insurance, parental leave, etc. is already covered by the law and is not a differentiator between employers. First and foremost: remote. Not commuting gives me 2 hours of time. Every day. That makes a profound impact on my life that goes way beyond any kind of financial compensation. Secondly: Meaningful and interesting problems.
• GoodJokes 3y ago
  [dead]
• bryanlarsen 3y ago
  It's useful to divide benefits into "core" and "extras". Lack of core benefits make employees unhappy. Too low pay results in unhappy no matter anything else. OTOH high pay doesn't make employees happy -- a shit job with high pay never gets better than "barely tolerable". Non-core benefits make employees happy but lack of them doesn't make them unhappy. For example, free lunch. The division between core and extra varies to some degree between employees. The major point is that the extras can never make up for a missing core. Poor pay or a bad boss is going to result in unhappy employees no matter the benefits.
• thiht 3y ago
  100% remote. If the work has an office in my city, I might go from time to time, or even regularly, but on my terms. I quit my previous job because I had 3 days a week remote, and I wanted to bump that to "unlimited but I can come whenever I want". Funny thing is that I would probably have come 2 days a week anyway most of the time. What I really want is to be able to work from home a few weeks in a row if I feel like it. Just decide as an adult if I want to come to the office or work from home. Maybe something like "10 mandatory office days" a year would have worked too. Or 3 mandatory office days a month, something like that. "Week" is the wrong granularity level.
• bilekas 3y ago
  In no particular order : - Salary - A place that appreciates, once you get the work done well and on time, the rest of your time is basically yours. - Interesting project / good people to work with or learn from. - Less beauracracy as possible within reason.
• ryandrake 3y ago
  Lots of good benefits mentioned and I won't repeat them, but so far it looks like nobody has mentioned: "After-tax 401(k) contributions, convertible to Roth." Not all tech jobs pay like FAANG, but many pay very well, to the point where one can easily meet the (2023) $22,500 pre-tax employee contribution limit. The full (employee+employer) limit in 2023 is $66,000 ($73,500 if over age 50), but many (most?) plans do not support after-tax contributions that bring your total contribution up to that amount. When you start earning more, this is something to look for in your offer's benefit package. Bonus points if the plan also allows you to convert that after-tax contribution to your personal Roth IRA (the so-called "mega backdoor" conversion).
• Fire-Dragon-DoL 3y ago
  - 100% remote - base salary - unlimited (real) pto with minimum required pto or something big, like 5-6 weeks/year - flexible schedule - no or business hours on call rotation - healthy culture - home office fund - education fund
• stonecharioteer 3y ago
  Indian here. - Money. - Remote work - Zero assholes in my team - Open source preferred - Preferably IC role.
• kcplate 3y ago
  I am in the last quarter of my career so the following is what is important to me. I am in the US. -Stability of the company or role. If I don’t see 10 years of possibility there, it’s a no go for me (not a benefit, but the top concern, at my age it’s harder to find a job because folks want you young whippersnappers more than us old grumps) -excellent health insurance -STD/LTD -Generous life insurance without medical qualifications -strong 401k matching or a generous employee stock purchase program -remote is nice, but not a must have
• wink 3y ago
  Europe: - base salary (not had bonuses very often, guess I might calculate with them, to a lesser degree) - number of vacation days - not having to be onsite 5 days per week - somewhat flexible hours, I am more of a 8-4 person but there are exception for appointments or just taking a very short or very long lunch break, or leaving earlier - sadly worth mentioning, not having to use Windows on my machine, although it shouldn't count as a benefit - I used to be big on the education budget but with covid my will to go to conferences has suffered so far (and I don't like online stuff), let's see how this develops That's the important stuff. I wouldn't say no to stuff for retirement (depends on your country anyway) or access to discounts for stuff I actually need or want, but not a decision factor. There are some anti-features I do want to mention: - if I need to be in the office, my commute and whether I can get lunch (a friend of mine once got a job in a remote industry zone and had to pack his lunch all day, every day)