Recession forces businesses to rethink employee perks - Phoenix Business Journal:

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Many of the Valley businesses contacte for this story declined to comment about theifrcost savings, even though struggling industriesw such as construction, financial services, real the media and the publivc sector are enduring a variety of cost-cuttingg moves. Still, a few Phoenix-area businesses acknowledged curtailingbusinesws travel, hiking co-pays for benefits, and reducing some amenitiess and perks, while some others said they aren’t cutting benefits or perks. has asked employees to pay more toward their benefitxs to keep those offeringa and make it throughtough times, said Katherine Cecala, the charitabled group’s chief operating officer.
Some companies are dictating the but others are giving employees the choice of what to keep and what to get rid of in the face ofneedee savings. “Even in tough times, if your staf isn’t operating productively and happily, the servicwe to clients suffers,” said David Eichler, a principal of Phoenix-basef . “So what we did, rather than just blindly slashing the budgeyt ofeverything perkish, we estimated how much attritionb there would be in the business and cut costx by the same percentage. Then we took the part of the budgetr that covers things like stockingthe kitchen, and assignee it to our associates.
We wantec to give them ownership — dare we say an allowancee — to preserve what was important to them, but do it responsibly.” Marianns Jennings, a business ethics professor at Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business, said companies are cuttinyg perks and benefits not onlyfor rank-and-file but also for company executives who are unded scrutiny in the wake of the Wall Streef bailout and firestorms over CEO pay and executive retreats. “k am seeing that the perks such asfinancial planning, etc., are dwindling. Paying dues for clubs, countryh clubs, etc.
, is going by the wayside,” Jennings “I also see that companiexs are even balking at paying for participation in charitablregolf tournaments. She also said businessess are scaling back on college tuitiomnreimbursement benefits. Dona Nutini, an employment attorney with lawfirm , said some cost-consciouws employers are finding savings in new health and dentakl plans as providers offer discounts to new customers. recently had its employees start paying more for cable boxes but that was because of a taxliability issue, not the said spokeswoman Andrea Katsenes. The telecommunications company still is offeringf its employees free cable and reduced phone she said.
Some businesses not only are keeping all of thei amenitiesand perks, but also are adding new ones. Phoenix-based , for example, recently opened a child care and fitnes center at its north Phoenix said spokes­woman Jessica Douglas. Vice President Elizabeth Driscoll saidthe Scottsdale-base Web domain firm has not cut any perks or