I work in the Bay Area and while Silicon Valley is technically from Palo Alto down to San Jose, the entire Bay Area is a tech hot spot with San Francisco it’s shiny beacon.  The entire Tech Industry is changing the way of life here; from rent ($3,000 for a 1 bedroom?!), to commuting (white buses everywhere), to the benefits of working…ie perks.
Gone are the days of working 8 to 5, getting paid holidays, two weeks vacation, and some type of health benefit coverage. These days companies are offering: flexible work schedules allowing you to come in when you please and leave when you need; breakfast, lunch and dinner provided; snacks galore; wellness programs; step trackers; in office massages; dry cleaning services; taxi credit; errand services; car washes; happy hours; hackathons or hackations where you can get away to focus on creating; education reimbursement; unlimited paid time off; scooters to ride around the office; pool tables; tv watching; the list goes on. My big question is, with perks like those who has time to work?
But that’s the catch… all of the perks give you a sense of relaxation and fun which in turn makes you not mind working longer hours or harder because there will be a happy hour where you can challenge your boss to a game of corn hole and everything will be right in the world.
The introduction of perks is a slippery slope. At first perks are wondered at like a side show attraction with everyone asking “is this really happening?” Then they become normal and everyone is happy and grateful to partake. Then finally they become expected and just any normal perk won’t due because we are used to the high and like good addicts we need bigger thrills.  It has been interesting to watch the adoption of outlandish perks throughout the tech community. More and more companies are needing to offer perks to compete for top talent. It is going to be interesting to see where it goes next as perks become more common. But leave it up to people from the valley to innovate new ways to make work and living that much better.