End of WFH? Companies offering vacations, meals and other perks to get employees back to office

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Picture this, a global real estate data company based out of the US is throwing away thousands of dollars everyday to one randomly selected vaccinated employee who is back into office. It also includes vacations to exotic locations on a company-owned private jet as a part of the offer. Breakfast, Lunch and ice cream is on the house for those working from office at the headquarters of Goldman Sachs. These perks have been drawn to bring employees back into office after surveys showed that many would rather quit than return to workstations and do long hours at their desks, according to a report in Business Standard.

Incentives are not the only motivating factor

Just like the companies in the US, India Inc is also opening up with gifts and freebies for returnees. And, just like the US, retention is a big cause of concern for Indian companies too. Recently IT companies have hired people at twice the salary, besides dishing out attractive perks such as expensive cars or vacations in exotic locales. But for employees to return to their desks, incentives are not a thing for most.

According to the Aon survey, it was found that some companies are offering perks such as transport facilities, relocation allowances to employees who have shifted to another city during the pandemic.

A hedge fund company based out of Hyderabad has promised its employees a one time incentive of an attractive relocation allowance to come back to office from October, saying remote working is not an option anymore. The push may also be due to the Telengana government’s nudge to IT companies to call employees back to office and thus spur consumption demand, the publication said.

Big tech companies like Infosys, TCS and Wipro have either started or are in the process of calling employees back to the office in a staggered manner.

Meesho a social commerce start-up has recently announced a break for all employees after diwali between November 4 and 14, so that they can completely unplug from work after a busy festive sale season.

Others are however, focusing their energies on providing a safe and a hygienic work environment and prioritising mental well being of employees by designing specific programmes.