Polls
Discussions
1. Why Is This Happening Now? Root cause — told through scenes
One Friday in Bengaluru, a new joinee, Samaira, walked into her office and found a brand-new “Fun Zone” with PS5, beanbags, neon lights. The same day, her team’s request for one extra teammate was put “on hold due to budget constraints”.
In Gurugram, Vikram joined a fintech where the HR tour started with:
“This is our cereal bar… this is our nap pod… this is our pet-friendly balcony…”
He had to ask,
“Nice… but where is my manager sitting?”
In Hyderabad, a startup founder admitted at an offsite:
“Honestly, it was easier to approve a fancy coffee machine than to fix our toxic project lead. So we bought the machine.”
Patterns behind these stories:
• People factor: managers feel guilty about overwork but don’t know how to redesign jobs, so they compensate with goodies.
• Process factor: budgets get cleared faster for “employee engagement activities” than for “hiring more staff” or “manager training”.
• Tech/Planet factor: after seeing Google, Meta, and flashy unicorn offices on Instagram, mid-size companies copy the aesthetic without copying the systems that actually support people.
So Anti-Perks started as an insecurity cover-up:
“If we can’t fix the work, at least make the office look happy.”
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2. How Does It Impact the Workforce? Human lens — feelings + behavior through examples.
At a SaaS firm in Pune, Ritika posted a story of her office slide and cereal bar on Instagram with the caption:
“Looks fun, na? Now guess who hasn’t had a weekend off in 5 weeks.”
Her friends replied with emojis, but two months later she quietly switched jobs to a smaller, boring-looking firm that simply promised “no calls after 7 pm”.
In Jaipur, an analyst Harsh joked with a colleague:
“Every time the CEO announces a new perk, it means someone just resigned.”
The joke stuck. Soon, people started predicting attrition based on the size of the perk.
In Noida, a fresher batch compared companies during campus placements.
One line from a student stood out:
“These guys showed us a gym, a sleeping pod, a smoothie bar… but not one slide about career paths. Red flag.”
Effect on workforce:
• People start distrusting any perk announcement: “What are they hiding now?”
• Quiet resentment builds when problems like bullying managers, unclear roles, and unfair pay remain untouched.
• The most thoughtful employees — the ones you actually want to keep — leave first, because they see the gap between Instagram office and inside reality.
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3. How Does It Impact the Organization? Business lens — again, via stories.
A mid-sized IT services firm in Chennai spent heavily on redesigning one floor: open café, gaming area, colourful booths. Six months later, their internal HR report showed:
• That “cool” floor had the worst engagement score.
• Exit interviews kept repeating the line:
“Nice perks, but nobody listens.”
In Mumbai, an ad agency proudly pitched its office culture to a new client with a video of parties and DJ nights. The client’s HR head quietly asked one question:
“If your people are always partying, who does the work?”
They lost the pitch.
In Ahmedabad, a manufacturing company did the opposite. Simple office, basic pantry, no pool table. But they invested in team leads training and realistic workload planning. Their attrition stayed under 6% while neighbouring, perk-heavy companies were above 20%.
Anti-Perks damage business by:
• Burning money on cosmetic fixes.
• Turning the employer brand into a meme: “great coffee, terrible culture”.
• Pushing out the very people who value depth over drama.
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4. What Should Employers STOP Doing? Don’ts — framed as “please don’t be this company”
• In Bengaluru, a startup launched a “Happiness Week” with ice cream carts every evening… right after forcing teams into mandatory weekend work.
Don’t do this “sugar-coating over stress” act. People talk.
• In Gurugram, a company installed a “Wellness Room” but kept appraisal ratings secret.
Don’t build yoga corners while hiding basic fairness.
• In Hyderabad, HR shared glossy photos of a new chill-out lounge on LinkedIn, while employees sat on old broken chairs in the backend office that never appears in photos.
Don’t invest in Instagram optics while ignoring everyday discomfort.
• In Pune, managers kept saying:
“Enjoy the perks, yaar, we’re like a family,”
whenever someone raised salary concerns.
Don’t emotionally gaslight people with “family” lines to avoid hard conversations.
Every time companies behave like this, Anti-Perks grow stronger and trust shrinks.
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5. What Should Employers START Doing? Dos — shown through better examples, not sermons
• A logistics company in Nagpur shut down its underused gaming room and used that budget to add two extra team members to the most stressed department. Within three months, evening logouts moved from 10:30 pm to 7:45 pm.
Employees said:
“Best perk so far: going home on time.”
• A media firm in Delhi replaced “Pizza Fridays” with “Feedback Fridays” — one hour where any employee could walk into a room with HR + leadership and raise one concrete issue. They still kept coffee and snacks, but the main show was listening, not eating. Attrition in their 0–3 year band dropped noticeably the next year.
• A startup in Bengaluru made a simple policy:
o First budget priority: tools, people, training.
o Only after that: décor and “fun stuff”.
When employees saw laptops upgraded and workloads reduced, they themselves suggested low-cost fun ideas like board game nights and interest clubs.
• A Jaipur-based firm quietly changed the language in their offer letter from
“We offer a fun, perk-rich office culture”
to
“We offer clear roles, respectful managers, and predictable working hours. Perks exist, but they’re not the main story.”
Candidates actually appreciated the honesty.
So the real “DO” is simple, and very human:
Make work healthier first, then decorate it.
Perks should feel like a bonus, not a bribe.
