Millennials, this one’s for you.
For today’s job seekers, especially the Gen Y millennials, conventional companies with fixed working hours and rigid rules no longer appeal as before. Even if they might draw a lower salary, more and more young people are starting to look to flexible companies with unconventional perks.
And it’s hardly a surprise to see why. Much unlike established companies, startups are not just concerned about profit and returns. They view their employees as their primary asset and are just as concerned about retaining talents and encouraging their employees to grow.
Here are some local startups with cool perks you might want to know about:
MoneySmart.sg
MoneySmart.sg helps users to compare different types of insurance, credit cards and loans. As a one-stop financial portal, Singaporeans can even directly apply for services through the platform.
This startup provides employees with perks such as:
- No dress code. Employees are free to dress however they like.
- 10 am to 7 pm work hours. Employees get to catch a bit more sleep and avoid commuting with the peak hour crowd.
- An additional day of leave per year. For each year that they serve the company, they get an extra day of annual leave.
- Well-stocked bar and pantry. No worries of getting skittish. Employees can even grab a drink (anything from beer, wine, vodka, whiskey, bourbon…) as a midday pick-me-up!
- FML – Friday Mass Lunch. Employees usher in the long-awaited weekend by having lunch together in the office, all covered by the company!
- Yearly overseas retreat. Employees are appreciated for their hard work throughout the year with an overseas trip together.
Honestbee
An online supermarket platform, honestbee offers on-demand grocery concierge and delivery services. This local startup has already spread itself in eight countries, progressing steadily towards its goal of becoming Asia’s largest online supermarket.
Here are some cool perks that employees enjoy:
- Flexi-work policies. Employees based overseas can choose to work from home during festive periods in order to spend more time with their families. Those with children can also benefit from this policy as they are able to attend to their children’s needs without their work taking a backseat.
- Great office facilities. With a gym, shower room, games room and quiet area for employees to take full advantage of, honestbee provides these facilities knowing that their employees spend a good amount of time in the office.
- Well-stocked pantry. Goodies that the employees love are always stocked up in the pantry. There is also an in-house café where employees can order coffee or purchase food through the startup’s platform.
- Medical insurance. honestbee gives their employees a peace of mind by making sure that their health care is taken care of in the event of any medical emergencies or personal accidents.
Call Levels
A real-time financial monitoring platform, Call Levels provide users with tools to keep track of financial movements. Users can set custom notifications where the information they need is delivered straight to their fingertips.
For a financial startup, you might not expect perks such as these:
- Casual dress code. Gone are the days of office or formal wear, except on days where there are meetings.
- Flexible working hours. Gone as well are fixed working hours! Employees can decide on their working hours without compromising on the quality of their work.
- Flexible leave periods. As long as employees remain contactable, there are no limits on when they can take a vacation.
- Bonding activities. Frequent activities such as laser tag and soccer encourage employees to keep fit and have fun together.
- Free lunches. Regular lunches are organized frequently, providing employees with more opportunities to bond outside of work.
- Free-flow coffee and well-stocked pantry. Free caffeine fuel is provided and employees get to decide on what snacks or food they’d like in their pantry!
FiiT.sg
As a data-driven employee engagement platform, FiiT encourages business owners and HR departments to understand and manage their employees better. It aims to improve work-life balance and staff welfare by offering benefits such as health & wellness, fitness, lifestyle, personal development, grant subsidies and F&B.
Its employees are entitled to perks such as:
- Flexible work arrangements. Employees are not confined to the office, and can choose to work from home.
- Unlimited vacation. Sounds too good to be true? Employees are encouraged to take personal days to avoid mental exhaustion.
- Free beer. With a beer fridge in the office, employees are more than welcomed to grab an ice cold beer as a perk-me-up.
- Wine nights. Perfect for employees to gather and bond over a glass or two.
- Game room. There’s Wii and PS4 available for employees to unwind after a long day at work!
- Theme parties. Employees come dressed up according to a particular theme (such as Pokemon). Guaranteed to brighten up an otherwise mundane day.
Jewel Paymentech
A financial risk technology company, Jewel Paymentech develops intelligent risk solutions for the banking and electronic payments industry to manage transaction fraud risks and identify illegal and counterfeit goods.
We’re sure that these employee perks will have you widening your eyes in disbelief:
- Holiday incentive. What employees are often grateful for: a yearly holiday reward!
- Unbelievable annual leave days. It goes way past industry norms, so much so that you will be surprised!
- Health and dental plans. Employees are covered with health insurance and dental coverage.
- Bonding activities. Monthly movie nights and quarterly team building for employees to interact outside of the workplace.
- Gym and pool. Employees are encouraged to keep fit and stay healthy with these office facilities.
Vault Dragon
Vault Dragon is a digital storage and software solutions company for the healthcare industry. The startup digitises unique patient records and offers end-to-end medical record solutions for doctors. Today, they work with more than 60 local healthcare institutions and aim to be the largest private Electronic Medical Record (EMR) custodian in South East Asia.
Working in this startup, employees can expect:
- No dress code. Bid goodbye to the frustrations of having to think of what to wear, an employee could literally roll out of bed and head into work in their PJs (not that we’d encourage that!)
- Free beer and coffee. Unlimited alcoholic and caffeine fuel!
- 10 am to 6 pm working hours. What are morning peak hour crowds?
- Team building events. There are monthly team outings and even an annual overseas retreat!
- Office BBQs. With a balcony in the office, the company organizes BBQs often.
- Wellness benefits. Every year employees can claim credits to pursue their individual interests outside of work.
Zilingo
This local startup connects retailers, brands and designers in Thailand to online shoppers in Southeast Asia. The online shop has five categories: Women, Men, Kids, Lifestyle and Beauty.
Zilingo ensures its employees are comfortable with benefits such as:
- Casual dress code. Not everyone is comfortable in office wear and Zilingo understands that. Employees are allowed to dress casually and work comfortably. But if you happen to be a fashionista, trendy wear is encouraged too!
- Thursday Lunch and Learns. Employees are treated to a weekly lunch on the house!
- Fun events and activities. Aside from monthly events, the company also has yearly offsite team building events.
- Mentorship. Employees are frequently provided with one-to-one feedback and coaching sessions in order to help them improve and broaden their areas of expertise. There are also opportunities to work with people of different nationalities and cultural backgrounds.
MatchMove
Matchmove is a fintech company that provides innovative technologies and end-to-end enterprise payment solutions for startups and enterprises to increase revenue and boost user engagement. Their cloud-based MatchMove Wallet OS acts like a credit card and can be topped up online or at ATM.
The company’s success can be attributed to its dedicated staff, who are happy with the company’s awesome perks:
- No dress code. Employees are more than welcomed to show up in last night’s party clothes.
- Monthly breakfast sessions. Where employees are brought together to kick start the morning with some good food.
- Free beers on Fridays. The most anticipated day of the week is made that much better where employees can grab an ice cold beer and chill out together.
- Monthly team building. At least once a month, the company heads out for activities such as golf, canoeing, cooking/baking class and more!
- Company-wide meetings. Every two months, the whole company comes together for a meeting and exchange ideas across departments.
CarPal
CarPal is an on-demand delivery platform where users can get items picked up and delivered to them in one hour. The startup connects businesses and consumers with local couriers in real-time, and delivery errands can be run anywhere within the city.
Here are the perks that come along with being a CarPal employee:
- Casual dress code. As long as it’s not tank tops and flip flops, employees are free to dress casually.
- Office with a view. Located in the CBD and on the 28th storey, Carpal’s office sees ample sunlight and a great view of our local port and sea.
- Well-stocked pantry. Enjoy free-flow coffee with their Nespresso Lattissima coffee machine. Tea, snacks and cookies are also readily available!
- Frequent lunch feasts. About twice a month, the company organises a lunch feast for all its employees.
- Diversity. CarPal’s team consists of people from different parts of the world and employees work in a multinational team.
- Fun startup events. CarPal shares the floor with other startups and exciting events such as wine tasting and block parties are held on the regular.
- Company yoga sessions. Employees engage in yoga classes together at a studio just down the road from the office building.
- Health care and medical plan. Employees are covered by a corporate health plan and outpatient treatments are partially reimbursed.
Thunderquote
A B2B platform, Thunderquote connects businesses and buyers to different types of vendors and allows for comparison between vendors. With free quotations, the hassle of searching for vendors is removed.
Some perks in the Thunderquote office include:
- Flexible working hours. Thunderquote believes that the number of hours spent at work does not matter as much as the quality of work that is produced.
- Remote working days. Similar to the above philosophy, employees are not always expected to work from the office.
- Flexible work arrangements. Employees can feel free to move and change their desk locations.
- Free-flow snacks and drinks. Along with a selection of snacks, soft drinks, hot chocolate, coffee and tea are also on the menu.
- Ping-pong table. Employees can take a break and challenge fellow co-workers (even the founders) to a ping-pong game.
