Recession perks symbolize new workplace

Employees may not be getting company cars, but some perks are still necessary even in a slow economy.

Even as they cut record numbers of jobs, companies are working to hold on to their remaining workers with perks that build loyalty, encourage teamwork and make employees lives easier without adding much to the bottom line.

Call them "recession perks." Low-cost, on-site services like bank machines, employee-paid fitness centers or dry cleaning pick-up and delivery, financial services referrals and even company sponsored career counselling, are replacing the free cars, significant bonuses and other glamorous perks that characterized the excesses of the 1990s, according to a survey by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., an international outplacement firm.

"It may seem contradictory, but in a time of unprecedented downsizing, employee retention becomes more important than ever. The employees who remain after job cuts represent the foundation on which the rebuilding process begins," said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

"While incentives can be critical to holding a team intact, employers who are cutting staff obviously cannot afford to offer eye-popping cash awards or gifts," Challenger said. "Aside from the cost issue, employees appreciate perks that establish a friendly climate in the workplace, as well as services that make it easier to balance their work and personal lives."

At Sargento Foods in Plymouth, Wisconsin, employees appreciate an automated teller machine that was installed a few years ago during an earlier slowdown. Karri Neils, director of human resources, and her team at Sargento are drawing on that lesson as they generate ideas for new benefits that could be offered to bolster retention in a workforce concerned about the recession and anxious about the future.

“There was absolutely no cost to the company and the employees definitely appreciated the convenience and time-saving aspects of having an ATM on-site," said Neils. "We try to focus on value-added benefits that have the least impact on our bottom line. Sometimes, the simplest of measures turns out to be very popular among employees."

In past discussions, the company had considered adding the conveniences of on-site dry cleaning pickup and delivery and a reserved parking lot space where employees could leave their cars to be picked up for scheduled service and repairs, after which the car would be brought back to the same location.

Convenience was the primary factor behind the decision by Corning Cable Systems, a global telecommunications equipment manufacturer, to establish a fitness center at its Hickory,
North Carolina headquarters. The company provides the space, but the center is paid for by the employees who use it. According to David Turman, vice-president of human resources, employees are happy to pay a fee for the convenience of working out during lunch or right after work rather than driving several miles to the nearest health club.

"These represent low-cost and, in some cases, no-cost perks that do not have to be eliminated when the economy trends downward. Ideally, companies want to avoid cutting even the costliest of perks despite the recession because doing so would shake employee confidence in the firm¹s future," said Challenger.

Across North America, workers who are living through their first recession may also prefer substance over flash when it comes to benefits. This attitude shift, according to Challenger, may stem from witnessing the escalation of extravagant and costly perks, initiated mostly by high-flying technology companies during the 1990s boom, only to see these firms fail miserably, in part because of their free-spending ways.

"Many victims of the dot-com crash may be thinking to themselves, ‘I would have traded in my free BMW for job security.’ Wary of lavish perks, employees are likely to prefer benefits that will offer time, convenience or a way to improve their skills," said Challenger.

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