What Are the Most Popular Corporate Perks for 2019?

Non-monetary corporate perks play a big role in candidates’ job decisions, so your corporate benefits and perks package needs to stand out from the pack. Plus, you want to make sure you’re investing in the most popular corporate perks, the ones the most people will use, and that will actually influence their decisions to stay.

To top it off, U.S. employers slowed their hiring in April, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. With fewer positions to staff, every hire counts. You want to make sure you get the best possible candidates to fill your available roles. After interviewing rock star employees, what perks will convince them to sign on the dotted line of your job offer, and not your competitor’s offer?

Glassdoor, the online employer review company, recently compiled a list of the 20 most popular benefits and perks that go beyond your run-of-the-mill Free Donuts Fridays. A few themes emerge from Glassdoor’s Top 20 list:

Maternity/Paternity Leave
It’s really hard (and expensive!) to be a working parent. Employees respond well to companies that make family life not only a possibility, but a financially viable option. Glassdoor highlighted Netflix’s corporate perks for new parents, including paid maternity and paternity leave for one year for new parents, plus the option to return to work full or part time. Spotify offers a month of flex work options for returning parents, as well as six months of paid parental leave.

Volunteering and Donation Contributions
Employees will likely feel more loyal to companies with similar values. For example, Salesforce gives its staff six paid days per year to volunteer, and will contribute $1,000 to employees’ chosen charities if they use all six days.

Mealtime, Simplified
It’s the one thing every one of your employees does every single day. The thing that impacts every other aspect of their lives, including productivity, hanger levels and health. They eat, and they’re likely consuming at least one of their daily meals at work.

Twitter offers three catered meals a day to its employees (Google, Zappos and a host of other tech companies are also known for this). If offering a free or subsidized daily lunch for your employees is not a possibility, you can still bring the restaurants to your office. Popup lunches inside your office or building make it easy and affordable for your employees to get a fresh, solid meal and power through their workday. Employees don’t waste time leaving the office and get to spend time outside of meetings catching up with their colleagues.

Travel and/or Flex Time
You don’t have to be a parent to get flexible work hours. REI provides the option for two paid days off every year for outdoor activities, while Airbnb gives every employee an annual $2,000 travel stipend to stay in Airbnb listings around the world.

Ultimately, there is no single perk that will guarantee a successful recruitment and retention program. Creating an environment where people want to come into the office and do great work each day requires a thoughtful combination of job and life-related corporate perks, in addition to enticing (realistic) salaries and a positive office culture.