On a recent vacation to California, I had the rare pleasure of visiting Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, south of San Francisco.
Our tour guide, a friend of a friend, told our group the social media company doesn’t give public tours. You have to know somebody who works there. Though large media outlets have been allowed a peek, it still felt exclusive.
Driving onto 1 Hacker Way – where a sign featured the instantly recognizable thumbs up used to “like” photos and posts – the grand size of the campus became instantly obvious. This is unlike most other companies. Most aren’t over 400,000 square feet and designed by famous architects, like Frank Gehry. Most don’t feel like a utopia or have more things to do than the city where I attended high school.
But this is one of the most recognize global tech companies. Not wowing the world would be anticlimactic.
Security checkpoints abound. We were issued passes – with our names printed on them – allowing admittance to various areas: rooms full of engineers and programmers, wings for Facebook-acquired companies Instagram and Oculus, and the personal meeting room of one of the richest people in the world, CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
On its face, the campus is a tech paradise. While the sprawling property dominates both sides of the highway, the HQ’s main facility has a rooftop park with greenspace and tree-lined walking paths. Panels that reminded me of “Star Trek” showcase a searchable directory of where each employee sits, which meetings rooms are open and, generally, where everything is located.
Employees conceivably have anything they could need: food from full-service restaurants, free snack stations, a buffet and beverages, equipment, music rooms, arcades, salons, massage therapists, shuttles, bicycles and clothing stores. The list goes on.
The company also is partnering with a local developer to build a rental property for employees, dubbed Anton Menlo, that’s within walking distance. Scheduled for completion next year, it, too, is slated to have typical Silicon Valley amenities, such as a sports lounge, pet spa, two-story gym and rooftop terrace.
As our tour guide told us, employees are provided ample amenities so they’ll stay on campus and work longer. It seems Zuckerberg – or Zuck, as our tour guide often referred to him – and crew want to project a certain image, and they certainly want their employees to feel at home.
I was wowed by the scope of it all, but I have to wonder if this all-inclusive package would become a bit too much. Of course, employees can leave, but they are actively encouraged to stay on-site.
Despite its gigantic size, the campus seems oddly claustrophobic. For many, a clear separation of work and home is key to a happy balance. This seems to tip the scale.
In the high-turnover world of big tech, companies have to work hard to attract the best talent. For some, that’s amenities and perks. At the Facebook campus, it’s free Mountain Dew, headphones from vending machines, hacking and art contests, three meals a day and entertainment options galore.
But when I leave work, I want to actually leave the workplace. There’s nothing quite as comfortable as knowing you’re in your own home, something that’s not to be shared among thousands.
This community-style approach has its appeal, and I’ll freely admit I wouldn’t mind jumping up from my desk for some quick arcade action.
I think, perhaps, there’s a point when it just goes too far. I wouldn’t trade my experience visiting Facebook, but I don’t aspire to work there.
We often hear about the lengths Springfield-area employers go to attract and retain employees. Until a couple of years ago, Springfield Business Journal had an entire event, Choice Employers, dedicated to benefits that put area companies over the top.
From my experience with that event, area employers are tipping the scales by offering benefits that improve workers’ overall quality of life, especially their time after 5 p.m. In 2013, employers were honored for extensive health benefits, lower costs of insurance and subsidies for those who chose to bike to work, for example. Some offered on-site amenities, but it appears employees largely seek quality-of-life benefits.
Last fall, CoxHealth added an employee store called 1906 that gives its workers discounts on household items, such as diapers and batteries. It cuts down on time its hard-working employees need to spend shopping when they’re leaving work and ready to be home. The store even offers an online experience similar to Amazon, where the hospital will drop-ship items. As the second-largest employer in Springfield, CoxHealth has its finger on the pulse of what benefits local employees want.
The Ozarks offers an abundance of activities centered on its beautiful scenery, arguably the area’s biggest selling point. We love lakes and rivers, fishing and hunting, and generally getting a bit dirty. These activities largely happen outside of the workplace.
While employers have a justifiable right to want their employees to work hard and embrace their company culture, they shouldn’t forget that life exists beyond their walls.
Springfield Business Journal Web Editor Geoff Pickle can be reached at gpickle@sbj.net.
