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Fortune Magazine states that SAS is ranked the best employer to work for in the country, up from number 20 last year
Employees at SAS certainly feel kneaded. Every week, several dozen of them get massages at the on-site 66,000-square-foot recreation and fitness center.You have to pay, but it's only $55 for an hour, and that's with pretax dollars. And the convenience is priceless: right up the stairs from the gymnasium, weight room, billiards hall, sauna, hair salon, manicurist, and aqua kickboxing in the Olympic-size pool. (Posted etiquette rules: "A bathing suit is required" and "No cellphones in class.")
There's classic massage, Swedish massage, orthopedic massage, and myofascial release -- all designed to make workers "more aware of their bodies, move with greater ease and freedom," and "have increased energy, reduced feelings of pain, and feelings of relaxation and well-being."
Though companies in Silicon Valley get lots of press about perk-friendly workplaces, it's here in the less go-go South that employees reign supreme. SAS is not only the world's largest privately held software business -- with revenues of $2.3 billion, it's about the size of publicly traded Intuit -- but also the paragon of perks
best-companies-to-work-for: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance (http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/108625/best-companies-to-work-for?mod=career-worklife_balance - broken link)
They send you the link in email and remind you to cast your vote! Although i am sure it is a nice place to work, you have to take that with a grain of salt.
but i hear their salary pay is on the lower side to compensate for these benefits....can anyone confirm?
Depending on what you do, yes. My boyfriend works there and he is making a bit less than he has made elsewhere. Sometimes it depends on job function. But it sort of seems like one of those crazy financial balancing acts. SAS employees and spouses gets affordable and good quality health insurance, there is a fully equipped fitness center onsite (including free personal training, classes, massage, etc.). There are many discounted services offered onsite by local businesses, such a hair salon, jewelry repair, etc. Another perk is that "domestic partners" can utilize many of the services and be included on health insurance as well, you don't have to be married as long as you are living together in a committed relationship. Not a benefit you see at most companies.
Put it this way, there are a lot of benefits that you wouldn't be getting at most other companies. Instead, you'd be paying market prices for the same services out in the marketplace, which adds up. For some people, a better quality of life is much more important than a slightly higher number on their paycheck.
It seems to be a great place to work, the people I know who work there are enthusiastic and don't complain about their jobs. Most everyone else I know (including me) does some real complaining from time to time!
but i hear their salary pay is on the lower side to compensate for these benefits....can anyone confirm?
They are a great company to work for, and no shortage of people wanting to work there. When was the last time they had to lay people off? Never? Some clear benefits to working for a company that does not have to answer to stockholders.
Fortune Magazine states that SAS is ranked the best employer to work for in the country, up from number 20 last year
They were #1 for several years in a row awhile back; I didn't realize they had dropped as "low" as #20. But yeah, magazine polls are not known for being scientific in validity, and it's no surprise that SAS is somewhere people like working.
When I was there, it was like working in a large high school where no one ever graduated, and relationships were somewhat incestuous -- at all levels. And I mean all. Employees married. Then divorced -- and neither one would leave the company. Then they married other employees. Etcetera.
Gay couples/individuals were more open than anywhere I'd ever worked before. That was eye-opening -- and a good thing.
You could be "free" to be yourself, and it was allowed. One man always wore denim skirts (not kilts). Another programmer started work at 4 am and left 7.5 hours later.
Generally, it was an interesting place to work. I enjoyed the (free) weekly M&M's delivered to the kitchens and the artichoke casserole in the cafeteria. The pianist in the cafeteria played all the songs my mother played when I was growing up, so that was a weirdly comforting experience.
Somebody (not a SAS corporate person) should write a book about the company, warts and all. It would be an interesting book.
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