Case Studies

Recently, several companies, including Facebook, announced they would be offering extended paid leave for new parents. I found myself wondering, which industries are most likely to dole out untraditional perks like this to their data analytics teams? Tech companies may seem like the obvious choice, but there are certainly many other companies that offer up flashy perks like foosball tables, massages, or unlimited vacation time in order to attract the best talent. Often, those organizations looking to attract top performers will use extra benefits as a recruiting tool.With all the media emphasis on work-life balance these days, I was also interested to see how long quantitative professionals are really working. Sensing an opportunity to put some data behind this trend, I sent out a quick flash survey to my network of quantitative folks to ask them how many hours they work in an average week and what extra perks (if any) their company offers aside from traditional benefits (like bonuses, stock, insurance benefits, 401k, etc.). We quickly received over 400 responses.

We found that roughly one-quarter of quantitative professionals work 42 hours or less, with the other three-quarters working 43 hours per week or more. Out of all the respondents, 32% work over 50 hours in an average week. Those in the Northeast reported working the most hours, with 40% of Northeasterners working 50+ hours, compared to 27-35% in other regions. Unsurprisingly, analytics professionals in consulting work the longest hours: 59% put in 50+ hours.Overall, 61% of quantitative professionals reported unique perks. The Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) and Pharmaceuticals industries, which have been historically generous with benefits, were the industries most likely to offer extra benefits to their employees, upwards of 70%. Those days may be waning, however, as growth in those industries has been stagnant as of recent years, leading to cutbacks of some of these perks.The perks we heard about ranged from common benefits, like extra PTO, to more unique benefits like an on-site woodworking shop. The most-mentioned non-traditional benefits were:

• flexible hours/location (such as work from home opportunities, extra or unlimited PTO, or summer/holiday hours) – 21%
• free food and/or beverages (e.g. free coffee or snacks, catered lunches, or a keg on Fridays) – 18%
• health and fitness benefits – 13%
• office social events (like happy hours) – 9%

Some of the more unique answers we received included:

• Concierge services (dry cleaning, car wash, salon, grocery delivery)
• Video games, ping pong, Foosball, putting green
• Woodworking and screen-printing shop
• On-site gyms, health clinics, doctors and dentists
• Relaxation rooms, nap rooms, and massage services
• Corporate jet shuttle
• Running trails
• Ability to earn extra time off by volunteering
• $3,000 per year vacation reimbursement

We’ve also done several other flash surveys on topics of interest to analytics and data science professionals, such as how often they’re contacted by recruiters (and how often they respond), and, of course, our ever-popular SAS vs. R survey. Thanks to all who participated and keep your eyes out for your next chance to take part!