Totaljobs.com > Career Advice > Latest jobs news > Perks of the job
Perks of the job
By Helen Beckett
The nation has been dubbed ‘goodie-bag Britain’ as freebies and perks for those at the top of business and pubic life get ever more lavish. But what is there for the humble worker? Plenty, it seems, as a climate of marketing and employee power means there are plenty of freebies to go round.
Check the company intranet
In this era of the ‘war for talent’ corporations are falling over themselves to keep employees sweet with plenty of freebies in the form of benefits. To find out what you’re entitled to can be as easy as logging onto the company intranet and typing ‘benefits’ into search.
Otherwise a quick call to HR can put you straight. Generous corporate discounts on a range of consumer items, subsidised travel or gym membership could be yours, as well as the usual healthcare and pension perks.
Sample suppliers’ wares
Getting a job in marketing or procurement is a good place to be as you can legitimately ask for all kinds of samples of goods and wares. “Sweets are always the best as the companies never ask for the samples to be returned!” said one greedy bargain hunter.
Join the fashion industry
One fashion journalist recalls her life of largesse when she was regularly flown first class out to launches and showered with gifts as a thank you for turning up. Parties in the Eiffel Tower thrown by Cartier and long weekends in capital cities were part of the grinding routine.
“All the journalists would compare gifts and do a swap if they had too many luxury umbrellas or didn’t want another scarf. I collected so many freebies I didn’t want. I sold most of them one Sunday at a car boot fair, but I’ve kept watches, jewellery and a pair of fantastic crystal candle sticks by Tiffany & Co.”
Eat free food
Why spend another penny on lunch when there’s food going begging in your building? If you work for a company where there’s a culture of many client meetings, you just need to check the bookings calendar and then be loitering nearby when a meeting winds up.
One corporate daredevil recently went public on how he lived on freebie food for a month for a bet. Lunch consisted of furtive snacks munched at strange times and in odd corners, but he didn’t go hungry. Be careful though as a diet consisting solely of sandwiches, crisps and chicken wings and sausages is not good for your health.
Living off the state
It’s not just employees of big business that get their hands on perks, as shown by the senior DTI officials who recently admitted to lounging on Barbados and Miami beaches while officially studying ‘British export prospects’.
According to an Ernst & Young investigation, Christmas lunch for ten on the taxpayer involved several bottles of wine, 14 vodka and tonics, 23 G&Ts, three mojitos and three whiskies.
Totaljobs.com > Career Advice > Hot topics > Perks of the job
Search for a job with totaljobs.com.
