Let's talk about paternalistic employers. To be specific, let's discuss a large publishing firm in suburban St. Paul. You know the one I mean--the one that is trying to get tax breaks from the City of Eagan to expand its "campus", using the carrot of more jobs, and the stick of pulling up stakes and moving to Podunk, OK.
Don't get me wrong. It's not a bad place to work, as private industry employers go. However, the pay stinks, they are continually upping the production expectations, and the physical environment is something out of Dilbert--miles and miles of cubes and a party-hearty atmosphere among the 20-somethings that make up the bulk of the workforce. I wear headphones cranked up to top volume. Losing a bit of hearing is a small price to pay for not being forced to listen to 10 no-doubt fascinating conversations at once.
Anyway, this organization, number 55 on Computerworld's Best Places to Work in IT, possibly to compensate for its shortcomings, offers its employees lots of little perks. There's the free fruit on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There's the turkey at Thanksgiving. There's the free coffee, milk, and tea. There are the subsidized cafeterias, with each day's lunch menu published on the company web site so you can make your dining selection before you get in line. There's the in-house Carribou Coffee, reputed to be the busiest one in the Twin Cities. There's the dry cleaning pickup. There is the subsidized health club membership. There are the discounted Twins tickets. There's the ability to purchase Word software for $20. And on, and on.
But, since most of us do not take advantage of these perks to make up for the paltry pay, there is really only one good thing about this organization, at least from the point of view of a lowly writer like myself. And that is that everyone is smart. Everyone. And that makes those conversations by the metaphorical water cooler, or the ones I don my headphones to drown out, very interesting. And that is indeed worth the price of admission--almost.
Don't get me wrong. It's not a bad place to work, as private industry employers go. However, the pay stinks, they are continually upping the production expectations, and the physical environment is something out of Dilbert--miles and miles of cubes and a party-hearty atmosphere among the 20-somethings that make up the bulk of the workforce. I wear headphones cranked up to top volume. Losing a bit of hearing is a small price to pay for not being forced to listen to 10 no-doubt fascinating conversations at once.
Anyway, this organization, number 55 on Computerworld's Best Places to Work in IT, possibly to compensate for its shortcomings, offers its employees lots of little perks. There's the free fruit on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There's the turkey at Thanksgiving. There's the free coffee, milk, and tea. There are the subsidized cafeterias, with each day's lunch menu published on the company web site so you can make your dining selection before you get in line. There's the in-house Carribou Coffee, reputed to be the busiest one in the Twin Cities. There's the dry cleaning pickup. There is the subsidized health club membership. There are the discounted Twins tickets. There's the ability to purchase Word software for $20. And on, and on.
But, since most of us do not take advantage of these perks to make up for the paltry pay, there is really only one good thing about this organization, at least from the point of view of a lowly writer like myself. And that is that everyone is smart. Everyone. And that makes those conversations by the metaphorical water cooler, or the ones I don my headphones to drown out, very interesting. And that is indeed worth the price of admission--almost.
