Delusional Hiring Incentives and Why You Should Be Wary of Them

The pandemic certainly brought on — for better or worse — a plethora of societal change. From an over-indulgence of woke-of-the-week culture to an isolationist slant towards greed, post-COVID reset is the cusp of a whole new world.

One of the biggest blowbacks felt was the changing jobscape. While lay-offs certainly affected the economy on a massive global scale, perhaps the biggest change was the realization that one could work from home and be effective; the controlled-minion model of being stuck in a cubicle or behind a counter was dismantled, likely irreparably.

This is dubbed the “Great Resignation”, where in 2021, “more than 47 million workers quit their jobs”, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It made such jobs as YouTube Influencers a legitimate and appealing career path in the minds of many.

As a result, once restrictions were lifted and there was a semblance of returning to the “norm”, many in the workforce found it hard to justify reverting back to the antiquated environs of the traditional work space. This, in turn, created a labour shortage felt the most in the manufacturing, service, retail and hospitality sectors, not coincidentally the fields that generally offer minimum wage and limited benefits.

Nowadays people are accustomed to getting their wants and getting them now. Imagine the revolt if Amazon went down! It’s inconceivable to think that one would have to venture outside to buy that useless trinket or the latest fad electronic gimmick that Siri recommended.

Obviously for companies, this affects what matters most to them, the bottom line. How can a product or service be peddled if there is no one there to make or deliver it?

A New Horizon

Enter the dawn of a new breed of hiring incentives. While this practice has gone on for centuries, the “bait and hook” philosophy has undergone a major overhaul. On top of the usual monetary incentives, terms such as work/life balance and “hygienic work cultures” are becoming catch-phrased-memes, tossed out like leftover salad at a wedding buffet. Perks are thrown into the mix that ape the “act now and receive this” late night infomercial offerings and are redefined as “benefits”.

As a result, there is a flux of formulaic job posting templates that consist of a click-bait opening blurb followed by an overzealous (and arguably flawed) company confidence and justification towards the merits and advantages of working for said companies. With just the right amount of calculated social-warrior acceptable catch phrases sprinkled throughout.

The following is a conglomeration of some of the recent incentives offered by employers via hiring sites and online networking platforms. So let’s take a closer look at these new “benefits”, shall we?

Paid Holidays

This is, perhaps, the most contentious offering in this list. “Unlimited holidays” is a common incentive, but this is a fantasy. There’s no way one can take as much time off as they please whenever they want and still have the company get any feasible productivity from the employee. So - employers don’t bother with this BS, and job seekers, don’t believe the offer. Question the company that offers this.

Another tact is employers offer “30 days paid holidays.” While this is certainly appealing, be aware of the legally mandatory paid holiday entitlements. For example, in the UK, by law most workers who work a 5-day week must receive at least 28 days’ paid annual leave a year. This is the equivalent of 5.6 weeks of holiday.

Granted, the employer can add statutory holidays into this equation, making the paid time away that’s not mandated less. Also, this will amount to fewer than 28 days for part-time employees if they work less than a five-day week, but what you’re really looking at here is 2 more days of paid holidays over what is legally required. Ask yourself how much of a perk this really is.

Mandatory paid leave varies vastly from country to country, even State to State or Province to Province, so do your research to see how much of this perk is really over and above.

Bonus “Perks”

Gift certificates for Amazon. Gym memberships. £10/month for WiFi bill. £100/month for commuting. £45/month as a “well-being” payment. These and many other examples of a lá carte add-ons are designed to be hip and appealing, usually tagged as “tax free”.

While upon first glance these may seem like nice little thoughtful bonuses that show the employer cares to some degree, ask yourself how useful these are. Do you even go to the gym? Do you ride a bike to work? Do you need another £10 trinket from Amazon?

Now, do the math. The above benefits where a monetary amount was listed equate to £155/month, or £1860/year. For minimum wage employees this represents an increase of approximately 6–8% depending on tax code, well below the annual cost-of-living increase, and hardly something to shout about.

On top of that, if you throw in, say, £50/month for the gym membership, this perk (as well as many of the others mentioned above) is now considered as taxable BIK (benefit-in-kind), meaning that for the £600/year provided to you for that gym membership, you will need to pay 20% of £600 as income tax on this benefit, even as a basic rate taxpayer.

This is certainly not the “tax free” environment as advertised in many posts; indeed it potentially puts the employee at risk of getting a large and unexpected tax bill. Can this really be defined as a perk?

Paid Learning

On paper this is not a bad concept. Having a company support and pay for job-specific training is a nice gesture. However, shouldn’t the employee already have the qualifications before getting hired? Is a company that will hire first and train later really taking the role or themselves seriously?

The wider issue here is that it is within the company’s interest to improve its workforce and increase the overall skillset for better customer interaction and to stay as or become a leader in the field. So the whole “paid learning” is now being re-framed as an employee perk/incentive as opposed to, what should be by default, a SOP.

Well-being

It’s important not to belittle the importance of a healthy work/life balance nor the need for eliminating toxicity within a company’s infrastructure. Having said that, work/life balance is a personal exploration, riddled with individual needs that cannot be put into a general category or have money thrown at.

Will a “personal day” provided by the employer eliminate the stress of your kids getting sick? Will that same day get you closer to making your deadline? Or will it put you behind further, while now worrying someone at the job will do it instead and jeopardize your position?

Most people serious about their careers have found or will find that work/life balance, particularly if they have chosen a field they are passionate about. Not everyone should get a 1st place ribbon just for playing; and coddling breeds apathy.

And the Grandaddy of all…

Moolah. Cheddar. Benjamins: Cash. Show me the money! Pay me what I’m worth! It’s pretty hard to deny this line of thinking, but the problem is there’s a real disillusionment of worth and entitlement (there won’t be any singling out of particular “generations” here, although a strong argument could certainly be made about a few). There are two other important things that need to be earned on top of money; respect and trust. Earn these and the money should follow. Of course, there are factors like the prevalent gender gap when it comes to hiring and salaries — in some fields much more than others — and that employers often define worth in accordance to their stakeholders’ bottom line.

The employer should take yearly inflation and cost-of-living into consideration at the very least, and being shown some monetary love over and above does wonders for self-worth and company loyalty, but ask yourself how much better you will feel about yourself if you actually earn what you make.

So what actually works?

Well, clearly manipulation through online recruitment ads is viewed as an effective strategy. Is it evil? Nah, it’s business. They actually teach business ethics in some prestigious post-secondary institutions and, SPOILER-ALERT, these are vastly different then “turn the other cheek”, to say the least. If it sounds too good to be true, chances are it is. But don’t be afraid to look; it’s a renter’s market.

Very rarely does an article do more nowadays than factualize and postulate. It sits on the fence and doesn’t even bother to lean. Solutions are considered too polarizing, unless it’s for marketing purposes. Here’s to kicking down that picket fence:

EMPLOYERS: How about hiring on the premise of actual talent/ability/drive to perform the needed tasks, regardless of gender, orientation, race, age or (gasp!) institutional education?

JOB SEEKERS: How about a career choice in where you believe in the company’s philosophy, product and/or service and feel that your contribution to the company will benefit all, whilst being fairly financially compensated?

Nah, too much Google search effort… Perish the thought.