Hot Companies
14 businesses go beyond the cubicle to reinvent the working world. (And better yet, they’re hiring!)
By Jim Gullo and Jessica VoelkerWith contribution from Sarah Anderson, Lee Fehrenbacher, Laura Peach, and Jena Vuylsteke
Priceless Perks
Benefits don’t come cheap. At most companies, they account for about 44 percent of payroll. But smart employers know that to attract the best staff, they have to offer the whole package.
F5
On any Friday afternoon, while most deskbound drones are organizing and reorganizing the pencils on their desks, anxiously watching the second hand tick by, F5-ers are already two beers deep in a heated game of Ping-Pong. That’s because, for the staff here, it’s Beer Friday.
Inside the crowded game room employees in jeans and T-shirts line up to fill cups from a keg of pilsner, while manager and engineer Dan Wright shows colleagues his photos from a recent Caribbean vacation, raising his voice to be heard over the “thwack” of pool balls crashing together. Such travels are pretty common among F5 employees, who receive up to 25 days of paid vacation a year, not including holidays. They also enjoy standard benefits—health coverage, a 401(k) matching plan—and unique perks like a $300 monthly parking stipend for alternative transportation, on-site massage, $3,000 in annual tuition assistance, and local gym discounts.
It seems taking care of your employees is good business: In 2006, F5 grew in staff by approximately 32 percent worldwide, with nearly half of its new hires coming from internal employee referrals. And here’s one stat you might want to share with your boss: Somewhere between last year’s keg bashes and Caribbean vacations, revenues at F5 rose 33 percent.
Business F5
Industry Technology
What they do Help keep professional Web sites and e-mail systems running.
Job growth in one year 23 percent
Currently hiring in Sales, development, marketing, customer support
Number of employees 593 locally, 1,625 worldwide
Founded 1996
Location Lower Queen Anne
Web site www.f5.com
Published: April 2008