The 4 Most Unique Financial Benefits in Tech

Many companies offer financial benefits like 401(K) matching and paid time off. But some tech companies are pushing the boundaries for special financial perks that might incentivize people to work for their organization.

Let’s take a closer look at a few highlights: student loan programs, credit card help, paid time off to volunteer, and new parent support.

Student Loan Help

College keeps getting more expensive, and loans add up. Plus, the Federal Reserve found that “the typical amount of education debt in 2017 among those with any outstanding was between $20,000 and $25,000.” Ouch.

Some tech companies are stepping in to help employees with the burden of student loans. But why is this financial perk becoming more popular?

If companies provide student loan help, employers might be able to help younger employees be less distracted at work, according to a SHRM article. Some employers might also be more sensitive to the high price of getting to a tech company. The cost of going to college for a degree in something that you could benefit from in the tech industry can be extremely high.

In 2019-2020, students and their families borrowed approximately $102 billion in loans to pay for postsecondary education, according to CollegeBoard. So student loan perks might incentivize graduates to choose their tech company over others.

Salesforce’s benefits website says it offers a platform called FutureFuel.io. FutureFuel.io’s website explains:

“FutureFuel.io makes implementation of student debt centric benefits easy. We offer a modern, mobile, millennial centric experience through our modular offering: Round Up, Repayment, Roll Up, Refinancing, and Read.”

NVIDIA

NVIDIA is a computer graphics company, and they offer a comprehensive student loan repayment program. If you’re an employee who has graduated within the past three years, you can apply for a $6,000 per year reimbursement, according to the company’s website. The reimbursement tops out at $30,000.

Or do you want to boost the education section of your resume? NVIDIA’s Global Education Assistance Program reimburses “qualified educational expenses” for employees who take classes through accredited academic institutions, according to the website. The website also specifies, “Employees must request approval prior to enrollment in the course and must submit for reimbursement within 90 days of receipt of grades to be eligible for reimbursement.”

Google

Those aren’t the only companies that recognize that student debt can be a big stressor. Google is on the trend, too.

According to a Google blog from September 2020, Google will match employees up to $2,500 per year in student loan payments, starting in 2021.

Here’s what Google’s director of global benefits had to say about the burden of student loans on his blog announcement:

“This burden disproportionately affects women and communities of color: For example, on average Black college graduates have $25,000 more in student debt than white graduates four years after completing a bachelor's degree.”

But Google’s financial benefits don’t stop at student debt. They also provide employees with free access to TurboTax as well as tax consultations, according to Google’s benefits website. TurboTax prepares users to file taxes online.

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Credit Card Help

First Tech Federal Credit Union

Some companies like First Tech Federal Credit Union help employees with getting better-priced credit cards.

Their website explains:

“Our compensation and benefit packages offer plans that meet you and your family’s needs at every stage in life. This includes employee pricing on important financial services like mortgages, student loans, credit cards, a competitive 401(k) matching program, bonus and incentive plans, and robust health offerings.”

The company has partnered with tech companies to offer exclusive financial services to their employees. These tech companies include Microsoft, Intel, Amazon, Intuit, Google, and more. With these companies, First Tech Federal Credit Union offers the following “partnership benefits”:

• Exclusive rates and discounts
• Free financial education resources, updated regularly
• Relocation services for employees moving internationally or domestically
• New hire orientation programs
• A dedicated account manager and onsite consulting service

First Tech Federal Credit Union also offers the following financial solutions exclusively to their partner organizations:

• Student loan refinancing options
• Mortgage and other loans
• Checking accounts where you can earn up to 1.25% APY
• Youth checking and savings accounts with up to 5% APY
• Unique insurance products
• Investment advisors
• Relocation services

Here’s what First Tech Federal Credit Union’s employees say about credit card perks on Glassdoor:

Paid Time Off: To Volunteer!

Paid time off isn’t unique. But some companies take this concept a step further: to incentivize employees to give back to their communities, companies pay them to take time off of work to volunteer.

Salesforce

Salesforce gives their employees seven paid days off to volunteer each year, according to the Salesforce website. Employees volunteer at an array of organizations, including American Red Cross, the Anti-Defamation League, Blue Star Families, Canadian Cancer Society, and Girls Who Code.

Let’s take a closer look at Salesforce and Girls Who Code, an organization for up-and-coming tech kids. Girls Who Code is a non-profit organization that works to close the gender gap in the tech and computer science industries.

Here’s what the Salesforce website says:

“Like Girls Who Code, Salesforce is committed to supporting women and girls in technology ― a mission that resonates with Salesforce employees. From volunteering at clubs to helping GWC with the technology that runs their organization, Salesforce employee volunteers have committed more than 1,300 hours to GWC.”

AppDynamics

Salesforce isn’t the only company pushing employees to take time off to give back to the community. AppDynamics is an application company that is part of Cisco. Cisco has a Time2Give program, which also provides a financial incentive for employees to take time off to volunteer.

Here’s what the AppDynamics website says:

“Then there’s Time2Give, a program that gives full-time employees 40 hours of volunteer time off (VTO) per year to get out of the office and give back to their favorite nonprofit or school. That’s one whole week off dedicated to helping people, animals, the planet, etc. With these added benefits, the foundations of giving back were firmly cemented into AppDynamics.”

At Cisco, employee Toneya Sarwar described on the company’s blog how she spent several days at various charities in Bangladesh. The charities included a school, the Acid Survivors Foundation and a water charity. Here’s what she had to say on the blog about her experiences:

“I returned home with a deep sense of gratitude and perspective. I am so grateful to Cisco and my leaders for supporting me on this journey, and encouraging me to find new ways to help give back to what I am most passionate about. Yes, Time2give inspired me to take action, and we distributed $20,000 in donations while on this trip. But what I got back in return was so much, much more. This is one of the many reasons I love where I work.”

VMware

Software company VMware has a paid volunteer time off program called the Service Learning program. Employees get 40 paid hours per year to “contribute their time and talents to the community.”

VMware employee Marianna Gaebel is an executive assistant in Germany, and VMware featured her as one of the employees giving back through the Service Learning program during the pandemic.

Marianna wrote on the company’s blog:

“Especially during these unprecedented times, the food banks in my community need help more than ever. My team and I have been organizing food donations and preparing food to be delivered to those in need. I am so thankful that VMware people live our company values every day and that we are supported in our efforts to give back.”

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New Parent Support

Companies like Facebook and Apple have robust benefits when it comes to new parents. While many employers offer some level of parental leave, tech companies throw in additional benefits that help employees fully transition into parenthood and return to work only when they feel ready.

Apple

Apple provides new parents with at least 16 weeks of paid leave. This is pretty standard in the tech industry. Apple however went a step farther by offering a flexible plan for parents returning to work. The company has a policy that gives new parents a four-week period after returning from parental leave. During this time, employees can work part-time or set their own hours. The intention is to allow parents to adjust to the return to work at their own rate.

Discussing the grace period, Apple executive Deirdre O’Brien said, “What we find a lot of times is people are really excited to get back to work. At the same time, [they] feel like they need to make sure things are really stable and successful at home. And that weighs heavily on people’s minds, I think.”

Apple also offers long leave for adoptive parents. In addition, they provide support with costs of adoption. The company offsets adoption costs by up to $14,000 for its employees.

Facebook

Facebook is known for offering its employees “baby cash”. This $4,000 award is given to parents to help cover the costs of raising a child. The company understands that these costs could be high, especially in the high-cost cities where many Facebook offices are located.

Additionally, Facebook offers its employees 16 weeks of parental leave with full pay. After that, employees can stay on leave for another 10 weeks and receive 70% of their base pay. To round out its strong parental support benefits, Facebook also offers subsidized daycare.

Stay Informed On New Benefits

From student loan benefits to credit card help to paid time to volunteer, these companies are jumping on a trend to incentivize prospective employees to join their ranks.

If you’re interested in learning more about a company’s job perks, check out their employee benefits website, and don’t forget to see what current and past employees have to say about the job benefits on Glassdoor and TeamBlind.

If you get an offer, remember that benefits are negotiable, too. You have every right to ask for benefits that meet your needs. If you want help from negotiation professionals, schedule a free intro call with Candor.