FRIDAY FUNNY: Irresistable Perks

Kaitlin Madden of CareerBuilder writes, before the Great Recession hit, many employees were used to job perks like lavish holiday parties, yearly pay raises, and generous 401(k) plans. Now, most people are happy to have a job, let alone company subsidized health insurance, bagel Fridays, and on-site child care.

Yet, while most workers—and their employers—are getting used to downsized perks, some companies refuse to lose the employee extras. When asked about their best job perks, this is what employees revealed.

1. At the Birmingham, AL, accounting firm of Barfield, Murphy, Shank & Smith, employees are provided with on-site laundry and dry cleaning services, door prizes at meetings, free snacks and soda, and birthday presents. During tax season, the firm ups the ante and throws in free massage therapy, on-site child care, and catered meals.

2. Employees of Infusionsoft, an Arizona-based marketing software company, work in a converted warehouse that touts an indoor football field, basketball court, library, and gym. The company also offers a daily, free cereal bar to all employees.

3. Summit Fiscal Agency in Minneapolis has lots of young women on staff, so new mothers are allowed to bring babies up to nine months old to the office.

4. Austin, TX-based Springbox, an interactive marketing agency, lets employees bring their dogs to work on Fridays. The company also offers in-office showers and a creative room with shuffleboard and pool tables.

5. Sometimes, perks are just part of the business. Take employees of Austin-based Ludus tours, for example. Because the company plans getaways for travelers to events such as Germany’s Oktoberfest and the Olympics, Ludus employees get free passes to amazing events around the world.

6. Rackspace, a San Antonio Web hosting company, has a “no dress code” policy — every day.

7. Door Number 3, an advertising agency in Austin, encourages a culture of “spontaneous fun,” which includes spur-of-the-moment mariachi parties, where employees are treated to Mexican beer served from the office kegerator. The company also has annual “Talk like a pirate day,” which is exactly what it sounds like.

8. Love music? Employees of New York City’s Global Point Agency, an advertising agency, get free concert tickets.

9. If you’re more of a comics buff than a music lover, a job at ComiXology, a distributor of digital comics, comes complete with new, free comic books every week.

10. Employees of Virginia-based Odin Technology get complimentary snacks like bagels and yogurt — perfect fuel for the company wide ski trip to Vail, CO, in January.