With Unemployment at Just 5 Percent, Marin Companies Use Perks to Lure Employees

There used to be a time when perks like chair massages, free food and gym memberships could only be found at Silicon Valley tech firms or very large companies.

But with unemployment decreasing in Marin (reported at 5 percent in August), more and more North Bay companies are offering the same to their employees, the Marin Independent Journal is reporting.

Novato-based Republic of Tea hands out free gym memberships while Sutter Health Novato Community Hospital provides free chair massage to give employees a little down time during the workday, according to a Sunday article in the IJ.

“Employers want to retain the talent, so they beef up benefits: Gym memberships, smoking cessation programs,” Solina Walton, chief executive of Perfect Timing Personnel Services, a Larkspur staffing agency, told the paper.

"It's the people who are savvy. A gym membership does not cost that much, but what it does for the employee is enormous. Plus, it keeps employees healthy."

Other local companies with sweet perks including Fireman’s Fund, which offers reduce medical premiums to those who participate in its health program, smoking cessation classes and a Weight Watchers program.

Read the full story here

Does your company offer perks for employees? If not, what would like to have?