Unusual facilities for employees

I've worked in a lot of tech companies and even during the boom days none of my employers had on-site niceties. (Other than free sodas/snacks but that's probably more common in general.) There were however plenty of open-bar parties and free happy hours.

In 2008, not so much.

one of my coworkers told me that at the last place he worked, they had a nap room where you could go and lay down for a little bit during your lunch break if you wanted. however, he was the only guy in the office and several of the women had babies and the nap room was converted into the breast milk pumping room

they had a nap room

Unbelievable! My colleagues and I have often thought how fantastic it would be if such a thing really existed, especially on those hungover days when your brain feels like it's made of cauliflower cheese.

gym room set up from products were were telemarketing. total rubbish, a gym room set up next to the photocopier.

my dad used to sell kenworth semi trucks and the dealership had a bar that the owner kept well stocked. according to my dad every afternoon around 2:30 everyone would quit working and start drinking. around 1982 some other dude bought the dealership and got rid of the bar. WHAT A BUZZKILL.

in my office we have a pool table, a foosball table, and a few video game machines. i do not ever use these amenities.

BEST PERK EVER: ONE OF THOSE MACHINES THAT DISPENSES GAS STATION CAPPUCCINO!

Hmm, not a real espresso machine?

i think every bbc building has to have a bar in it by law

yeah, and 2 drink minimum

we have a babyfoot table and the last place i worked had facilities for cyclists.

oh the place i work now has facilities for cyclists (this guy).

bike storage and a SHOWER, where you are allowed to keep all yr toiletries and towel (laundry goes home over the weekend, though)

^^^ so jealous, altho I'd probably be late for everything due to extended showering.

a drum set room would be the only amenity i would need. and the nap room. i've definitely fantasized about that.

i've heard there's a shower here, never seen it though. we do have plush soccer balls in the hallway.

^^^ so jealous, altho I'd probably be late for everything due to extended showering.

-- Laurel, Monday, February 18, 2008 7:23 PM (45 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

i was wondering about that, but think of it this way: there's free (and v v good) coffee there, too. If you just woke up at your usual time and rolled straight into your cycling clothes (which is what i used to do at my old, old job), you can be out the door in under 5 minutes. arrive at work, shower, change, and do your puttering coffee routine in the office kitchen. you'll just be waking up, but you'll look like a go-getter.

we have a babyfoot table

The only game we have to amuse ourselves here in our company is 'teabag darts' - throwing your teabag into your cup from the other side of the kitchen while the kettle boils. Not exactly a facility laid on by the company but it keeps us going when things get particularly boring in the world of translation.

they had a nap room

When I worked at Dell in tech support we had a nap room... a couple of recliners, sofas and the overhead fluorescents were turned off, only a couple of table lamps. It was mostly notable because it was an actual room, not just a cubicle with high partitions and a door like 99% of the "rooms" at Dell.

My last place of work had table football & pool, which wasn't particularly unusual I guess, but it was good for slacking off mid-afternoon. Current place has nothing but a small TV room that no-one ever uses AFAIK. I guess this company makes up for lack of amenities with heavy drinking culture, we're surrounded by bars (well this is Soho). Although mass lunchtime sessions are almost a thing of the past now, they're kinda frowned upon these days (company was bought out).

We have showers and lockers for Cyclists.

AND A ROLLERCOASTER!!!

Now that's just too much.

There's a shower room in the office I work in too. We also have a prayer room. Which given we're a Government Department would, I suspect, make Daily Mail readers absolutely livid.

Are there prayer rugs along with rosary beads and yarmulkes available?

there was a brothel in the reel room of the press hall in our old building

gbx you are totally right and awesome. Altho I wd have to transport all make-up and personal care items too. Or else buy duplicates. But that could be arranged.

So in conclusion: still jealous.

We've got showers in our office, but that's just because the bosses appear never to go home. I'm not convinced some of them even *have* homes, since one guy swanned off to the other end of the country today on business for a few weeks at less than a day's notice.

I've worked at the Spirella Building, but I remember no ballroom. There are a number of large function halls though.

in antarctica they had all kinds of crazy shit set up--bars, music rooms, a coffee house--but that was more about us being stuck there than the jobs.

we have pilates classes at my work now. you still get paid but it costs $50 so it doesn't exactly even out.

http://www.nsa.gov/about/about00017.cfm

also they have a "meditation (read: nap) room," on-site daycare for a lucky few, and a breast pumping room, but I strongly doubt table tennis sets or drum kits were around anywhere. then again...

i suspect tomboto, el would grumble about the perks at ooglegay

and yeah FBI hq of course has a full gym and firing range, plus the 8th floor canteen and gift shop + outdoor smoking patio, where you could stare at tourists from on high while enjoying your cancer sticks in the sunshine

jergins you lived in antarctica???? did you "over-winter?"

i just read some website about living in antarctica. it was pretty funny! sounds like there was a lot of shenanigans down there. most of the stories sounded like college and/or being a ski bum

just one summer. yeah, lots of shenanigans, but also 54 hour work weeks. people drank a LOT. and crossdressed a lot. that was a work perk: anything anyone brought down there got left there, so we had a fine choice of wigs and halloween costumes.

I would like to hear about unusual faculties for employees, like x-ray vision or spider sense. Only as it applies to their jobs, tho.

Tills that print stuff like this:

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44437000/jpg/_44437628_ruderbill_two203.jpg

Least it was free.

Grozart, here's a link to the ballroom at spirella: http://www.spirella.com/ballroom.htm

Looks nice, eh? More to the point, I love the idea that somehow the original boss felt that a ballroom would engender a positive atmosphere among staff.

Are there prayer rugs along with rosary beads and yarmulkes available?

-- Bonita Applebum, Tuesday, 19 February 2008 16:16 (Yesterday) Link

As I don't do the prayer thing, I've never been in the prayer room. Presumably, those items of prayer equipment you'd bring along for yourself.

Best on site facilities?

Free restaurant, and a dentist that was run at cost prices.

Blimey, Mark, where was that?