Originally published in Entrepreneur
By David Levin
With the United States enjoying the lowest unemployment rates since the Vietnam War drove joblessness to 3.5 percent in 1969, employers are struggling. The available pool of labor is so tight that companies are finding it hard to retain workers. As a result, executives are scrambling to find innovative ways to engage their employees. There’s no doubt that in this labor market workers can pick and choose where they want to work.
These days, many human resources executives feel pressured to compete with the working conditions and perks at leading U.S. tech companies — especially places like Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple (GAFA) — to attract and keep desirable staff. That’s a tall order if you’re trying to match their excesses.
Amazon recently opened a $4-billion office expansion that includes indoor domes containing a miniature rainforest, replete with 40,000 plants, including a 55-foot-tall tree nicknamed Rubi. It’s not uncommon for the lavish GAFA offices to boast Olympic-sized swimming pools, climbing walls, basketball courts or roof-top gardens — offices that The Guardian describes as “spectacular symbols of their immense global power.”
Aim for happiness anchored in reality.
But companies don’t have to match that extravagance. Not every employee wants to drink craft beers at work. While some folks might love a climbing wall, others only feel intimidated and cowed by a fear of heights.
Read the full article at https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/317514
David Levin is president and CEO of Four Winds Interactive.