Photos: 10 tech companies with amazing employee perks

Reddit

In addition to free meals, employer-paid health benefits, unlimited vacation days, stipends for education, child care, and pet care, and generous paid parental leave, Reddit employees can take advantage of the company's Evolve Benefits, which focus on self-improvement, professional development, and wellness. Employees can use the funds to take classes related to their job, as well as learn skills that include cooking, surfboard shaping, and learning a language. They can also spend the money to cover wellness costs such as a nutritionist, massages, gym memberships and/or fitness trackers, and even mattresses and blackout curtains.

The company sponsors a once-a-year camping retreat in the woods of northern California for all 500 or so employees and their families. And if that's not enough, Reddit offers a Wanderlust Fund--a yearly allowance that employees can spend on travel and accommodations or on fun experiences like concerts, museums, expeditions, and tours.

SEE: More must-see photo galleries (TechRepublic Flipboard magazine)

Image: Reddit/Joshua Uziel

Google

The tech giant has often been praised for its fun and interesting office facilities--namely the Googleplex--and rightly so; with its on-site haircuts, a plethora of food options, game rooms, laundry and dry cleaning, themed office areas, and much more, what's not to like?

Other cool benefits include Google.org, a charitable arm of the company that allows full-time employees to work for a nonprofit or charity of their choice for up to six months, generous parental leave policies, on-site learning opportunities (e.g., coding and cooking classes, degree programs, guitar lessons, etc.), and "culture clubs" in its offices around the world that feature events and activities like Dragon boat races in Taipei and "New Music Wednesdays" with local artists in the Nashville office. Some offices even allow you to bring your pooch (or "Doogler") to work. It's easy to see why people enjoy working there.

SEE: 16 tech and startup companies with insane employee perks (TechRepublic)

Image: Google

Microsoft

Its large Redmond Campus offers employees plenty of benefits, amenities, and interesting workspaces (Treehouse meeting space anyone?) including: On-site preventative care, physical therapy, and even a pharmacy, financial education, social clubs, retail shops, dining options, game rooms, and much more.

Clearly, the company already offers lots of conveniences, but Microsoft does not rest on its laurels--it is in the process of revamping its Redmond, WA headquarters, with construction expected to be completed in 2022.

The redesigned campus will have areas for yoga, running/walking trails, outdoor meeting spaces, a soccer field, cricket pitch, and other sports fields, open workspaces for collaboration, a 2-acre open plaza with food and service offerings where up to 12,000 people can gather for product launches, company meetings, local bands, and farmer's markets. Also being incorporated are: Smart parking garages with drop-off areas for automated cars, underground food growing labs, a connected retail space, and much more.

SEE: More must-see photo galleries (TechRepublic Flipboard magazine)

Image: Microsoft

Zappos

Zappos employees are treated like royalty--the online shoe and clothing retailer has one of the coolest office environments around. Perks include an on-site gym, cafe, bistro, arcade, touch-screen elevator games, gift shops (one internal, one public), dog-friendly workspaces (and includes a dog-walking service), and scheduled monthly professional amenity services such as manicures, car washing, and art therapy. Also offered are life coaching, karaoke, pajama-themed office days, parades, and much more.

SEE: More must-see photo galleries (TechRepublic Flipboard magazine)

Image: Zappos

Etsy

With a dog-friendly office environment, views of the outdoors highlighting the New York skyline, dedicated meditation area, fully stocked kitchens on every floor (with Kombucha on tap!), family-style catered lunches, and an environmentally friendly HQ, Etsy's Brooklyn, NY office has plenty of luxuries.

Also available to employees are Etsy Labs, where they can use crafting supplies, looms, and a 3D printer, and Etsy School, where they can take classes taught by fellow employees to learn about knitting, floristry, computer coding basics, and more.

SEE: More must-see photo galleries (TechRepublic Flipboard magazine)

Image: Etsy

Amazon

Amazon employees are encouraged to bring their dogs to work--the Seattle HQ has over 6,000 registered dogs who tag along to work with their owners.

In addition to receiving generous benefits like medical, dental, and vision plans, employees can also take advantage of financial counseling and planning, adoption assistance and paid parental leave, and education assistance through Amazon's Career Choice Program.

The tech titan has uniquely designed offices in 30 countries, all of which feature whiteboards in the elevators and open spaces for spontaneous meetings with the idea of fostering an environment of creativity and collaboration.

SEE: More must-see photo galleries (TechRepublic Flipboard magazine)

Image: Amazon/Jordan Stead

Netflix

Fostering an open and honest work environment for employees--and one that provides lots of freedom--the company offers: Unlimited paid time off and a very generous and flexible paid parental leave policy that allows new parents to take up to a year off to care for their bundle of joy. Netflix's culture is also a draw; its core principles include: Communication, courage, inclusion, integrity, passion, selflessness, and innovation.

SEE: More must-see photo galleries (TechRepublic Flipboard magazine)

Image: iStockphoto/g-stockstudio

Zillow

Unlimited time off, treadmill desks, wine and beer available in the office, catered lunches... it's all there for Zillow employees. The biggest way the company looks out for staff is through its perks for parents: Employees get up to 24 weeks of fully paid parental leave, adoption assistance, and the company will even ship breast milk overnight for free to mothers who work for them when they're traveling.

SEE: More must-see photo galleries (TechRepublic Flipboard magazine)

Image: Zillow/Adam Cohn

Missing Link

This designer of company presentations has an interesting setup in its Johannesburg, South Africa office, which includes: An arcade-on-steroids-like environment featuring a shooting gallery. Missing Link also offers a few times a year on-site tattoos for employees and customers by professional tattoo artists.

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Image: Missing Link via Facebook