Google Employees' Latest Perk: Servants

It's all part of the tech giant's attempt to woo the best and the brightest

Work at Google, have someone else iron your shirts.  
(AP Photo/Mark Baker)

(Newser) – Should you need a reason to hate your job a little bit more, get a load of the latest perk Google is offering its employees: "runners" (or, as Gawker helpfully identifies them, "servants") who can empty the trash, scrub the bathroom, or do any other pesky chore Googlers aren't into. In a bid to woo engineers, the tech giant is giving its workers credits for TaskRabbit, an online service that allows users to post an errand and have background-checked runners fight for the privilege (and pay) that comes from completing tasks like "cook dinner for 2" or "assemble four items from Ikea."


"Employees get the extra help they need and some work-life balance, while companies get happy and loyal employees that are more focused on their work," explains TaskRabbit's founder. She describes the "perk" as one that "helps to differentiate one work environment from another"—something tech companies have been focused on in recent months as fierce competition among Google, Amazon, Facebook, and the like for programmers has led to wild things like half-million-dollar retention bonuses. (Click here for more on the best places to work.)

Categories: amazon, employees, Facebook, google