All either basic workplace expectations or intangible irrelevant gimmicks.
People are not that dumb. If you want to avoid paying people tangible benefits and what they are worth they will dump you and no amount of sunlight and social events and catered lunches is going to change it.
To be fair, when I started in IT, around 2001, it was common for IT to be in the basement or sub-basement. It probably still is at larger companies or government contractors.
To be fair, natural sunlight is actually a massive deal to me. I can’t focus without it and I get weirdly claustrophobic in rooms without it. I wouldn’t take a job in an office without windows, even if my salary was doubled.
Yeah I'm not saying it's not important but it's still sad and embarrassing to brag about it at the top of the list of your company benefits.
So the deal is "salary that isn't going up + a bunch of gimmicks".
In fact many of the "benefits" are designed to benefit the company such as social events outside work hours that is basically free team building activity for the company.
Or other gimmicks to trick employees into working longer hours.
Then they wonder why people hop.
Because there's nothing else other than that salary going and someone next door is offering 10-20% more.
Real and tangible benefits takes some guts to offer and they don't have it.
It could be things such as extra paid leave days, highly paid overtime or no overtime culture, shorter work days for usual market pay (say 9 to 4), private offices.
Employees will sure as hell miss a 9 to 4 job a lot more than your snack-packed kitchen and beer on tap.
Just go look at the job ads and see what pathetic items they list as "benefits".
- natural sunlight - monthly social events - snacks - ping pong table
All either basic workplace expectations or intangible irrelevant gimmicks.
People are not that dumb. If you want to avoid paying people tangible benefits and what they are worth they will dump you and no amount of sunlight and social events and catered lunches is going to change it.