Perks are perking up again.

• Author: Challenger, John A.
• Position: ECONOMIC OBSERVER

AN ANALYSIS OF WORKPLACE TRENDS shows that employee perks, a reliable barometer of job market strength, are beginning to make a comeback. While not as extravagant as those offered in the late 1990s, companies clearly are shifting their focus from workforce reduction to workforce retention. Firms realize that they require a foundation of experienced, trained, and motivated workers. These employers are improving and/or adding perks to prevent an exodus of workers that could occur as the economy continues improving. They also may be looking further down the road when severe labor shortages are expected to return.

Several surveys indicate that many workers are not reluctant to leave their current employers if they can land a better deal elsewhere. Workers' desire to change jobs and the threat of major labor shortages resulting from mass retirements among baby boomers undoubtedly have human resource departments examining ways to hold on to valued employees. They probably are looking at lists of perks--past and present--to see which ones can be improved, which ones can be resurrected, and what new ones can be created.

An analysis of perks offered in today's workplace shows that many of the 1990s-style benefits, such as game rooms and luxury car leases, have been abandoned. The perks that remain popular with employers and employees are those that help workers stay healthy, career focused, and financially stable. Perhaps the most appreciated are those that help individuals maintain work-life balance.

SpectraSite, a Cary, N.C.-based mobile phone tower operator, pays $1,200 per month to a concierge services firm, which will do anything for employees, from finding a landscaper to taking a car for an oil change. The company has maintained the perk despite the fact that it went through Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. The firm's vice president of human resources notes, "We're running lean and cannot afford to have people wasting time running errands."

To help employees tend to family and personal responsibilities, Mortgage Experts Inc. in White Plains, N.Y., gives its people wide latitude when it comes to scheduling flexibility. As long as the work gets done, a person can take the time he or she needs to attend a child's soccer game or let a plumber into his or her home.

Work-life balance is just one part of the growing concern companies have about the overall emotional and physical health of their workers. Employees who are stressed out or depressed...