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Tech companies offer perks to lure workers back to offices

Yahoo Finance's Akiko Fujita and Brian Cheung discuss a Yahoo Finance poll on whether in-office perks incentivize workers to return to the office. Read More...

Yahoo Finance’s Akiko Fujita and Brian Cheung discuss a Yahoo Finance poll on whether in-office perks incentivize workers to return to the office.

Video Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]

BRIAN CHEUNG: Well, some companies are turning to perks, like food, happy hours, in some cases swag to get workers to return to the office. We actually asked our Twitter followers this question. If you’re working from home, would in-office perks incentivize you to return? 65% said no. 35% said yes. Akiko, you and I are in the– must be in the 35%, because we’re back in the office right now.

AKIKO FUJITA: I didn’t say that was the reason I would come back. I said it made me happy. By the way, we should point out that today is our first day back in studio in two years, right? We have seen each other outside of work, but it’s the first time here. And I was pleasantly surprised to see there was breakfast served.

BRIAN CHEUNG: Yeah, well–

AKIKO FUJITA: We got pastries.

BRIAN CHEUNG: It wasn’t hot breakfast, but–

AKIKO FUJITA: But it’s not going to entice me to come no. No. I wanted to come back to the studio. I think we both agree that it’s good to be in a newsroom where you can exchange ideas and that kind of thing.

But this got us thinking, because we saw that article in “The New York Times” that talked about some of the perks that tech companies were throwing out there.

BRIAN CHEUNG: Concerts.

AKIKO FUJITA: The top being a concert from Lizzo–

BRIAN CHEUNG: Lizzo, yeah.

AKIKO FUJITA: –which is great, but doesn’t that make you think that these companies are missing the point of why people don’t want to come back in? It’s flexibility. It’s not about having these things thrown at you.

BRIAN CHEUNG: And I think it also discounts that in many cases, you don’t have a choice. And, in fact, that was one response to our Twitter poll which I found quite funny, someone mentioning that the best work perk of whatever the offices are offering is not being laid off. I mean, it is certainly the case that companies, if they say you have to come back, well, that’s the agreement that you have with your employer. So you’ve got to come back. But at the same time, it’s a tight labor market, right? And that is playing into companies have to give flexibility to their workers in some cases because they will just quit and leave.

AKIKO FUJITA: Well, I mean, that’s the number one issue, which is why we’re seeing some of these companies throw out these perks, because you’re right. As an employee, you have so many options right now. You can say, look, I want more flexibility. If you need me to be back in the office, I’m going to go look for another job.

From an employer standpoint, obviously, that creates some issues. And especially if you’re talking about something like tech, it is so competitive already for the top talent. They don’t want those workers walking away.

BRIAN CHEUNG: Go big on the perks. Get a Warriors playoff ticket or something like that.

AKIKO FUJITA: Oh, we could both go for that.

BRIAN CHEUNG: Take me, too. We would both go for that, yeah, 100%. Neither of us are Warriors fans.

AKIKO FUJITA: Well, no. And we’re not going to talk about the playoffs.

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