Tech cos dominate ranking of top 20 employee benefits and perks

Offering generous benefits and perks can be an advantage for employers when competition for talent is tight. Glassdoor, the jobs and career marketplace, today released its ranking of the top 20 employee benefits and .

Among the standout companies in Glassdoor’s new ranking, 14 out of 20 are in the consumer or enterprise tech industry. The top 20 list is, by design, intended to single out some of the more unique benefits employees are enjoying at companies. It doesn’t list every benefit a company offers.

Netflix ranked No. 1 for its paid year of maternity and paternity leave for new parents. Netflix also lets parents return to work part-time or full-time and take time off as needed throughout the year.

On the enterprise tech front, Salesforce ranked third; employees receive six days of paid volunteer time off a year, as well as $1,000 a year to donate to a charity of their choice, Glassdoor reports.

Evernote came in at No. 15 for providing team-building courses such as macaroon baking, followed by Epic Systems (No. 16), which offers employees a paid four-week sabbatical to pursue their creative talents after five years at the company; and Adobe (No. 17), which shuts down the entire company for one week in December and one week over the summer.

Two management consulting firms made an appearance on the list: PwC (No. 7) offers its employees $1,200 per year for student loan debt reimbursement, and Accenture (No. 13) covers gender reassignment for their employees.

A number of consumer tech companies ranked highly on the list. At No. 4, Spotify provides six months of paid parental leave, plus one month of flexible work options for parents returning to the office. Spotify also covers costs for egg freezing and fertility assistance.

Airbnb (No. 6) gives its employees an annual stipend of $2,000 to travel and stay in an Airbnb listing, and Pinterest (No. 8) has a parental leave policy that includes three paid months off, an additional month of part-time hours, and two counseling sessions to create a plan to reenter the workplace. 

In the middle of the pack, Twilio (No. 10) offers employees a Kindle plus $30 a month to purchase books, while Twitter (No. 11) made the list for some of its lesser-known benefits, including on-site acupuncture and improv classes.

Facebook came in at No. 14 for providing $4,000 in “baby cash” to employees with a newborn.

Google, which is widely known for its workplace perks, anchored the list of unique perks for providing the surviving spouse or partner of a deceased employee 50% of their salary for the next ten years.

Employees determine Glassdoor’s ranking, which is based on its benefits reviews. Employees rate their satisfaction with their employer’s overall benefits package and describe the best and worst facets of their benefits and perks. The types of benefits covered include: health and wellness; financial and retirement; family and parenting, such as onsite daycare and adoption assistance; vacation and time off; perks and discounts, such as free lunches, dog-friendly offices and company cars; and professional support, such as diversity programs and tuition assistance.

These days, 57% of Glassdoor survey respondents say benefits and perks are among their top considerations before accepting a job, and 79% say they would prefer new benefits over a pay raise.