10 sweet startup perks in the Philippines

Given the infancy of the tech scene in the Philippines, the perks that startups offer their employees are mostly uninstitutionalized. Young tech companies are still trying to determine the ones that will provide the most value to their workers in the Philippine context.

While startup perks are fun to read about – who doesn’t like to picture themselves working at the Googleplex? – knowing what other companies offer their employees can provide the discerning entrepreneur an advantage. Being familiar with what other tech companies offer can help you structure your benefits package for the highest possible return. After all, you want your perks to help you recruit new employees, keep the current ones happy, and prevent their eyes from wandering to openings at competitors.

With that in mind, what follows is a list of some of the more interesting perks available across the startup scene in the Philippines. This list is by no means comprehensive, nor meant to be a ranking – it’s intended to merely provide a starting point for a search of the more notable perks that our local tech companies provide.

1. Homes for hackers

Kalibrr has some of the best developers in the country, including Kevin Atienza who earned the top place at Google Code Jam in Southeast Asia earlier this year. It helps when you have CEO Paul Rivera recruiting such talent, who himself graduated from UC Berkeley and worked at Google, but having great benefits does not hurt, either.

One of Kalibrr’s most notable perks is the company’s hacker home. Giving your developers free housing spares them the awful Manila commute, but it also allows them to do what all programmers wish they could do: live and breathe code.

2. Steam games

Jason Torres, the co-founder of engineering firm ProudCloud, believes that perks should be as organic as possible. Since most of the people on the team are gamers, he thought it would be appropriate to give employees free games on a seasonal basis.

To date, ProudCloud has given away several dozen games from online store Steam, and the company has about fifty more games to give away. This perk may seem cost prohibitive, but Torres points out that Steam games are easy to collect and give away because they are always on sale.

3. Virtual office

It has been said that startups take on the persona of their co-founders. This principle can apply to Altitude Games, which was founded by Gabby Dizon, who has long been a proponent of telecommuting.

Employees at Altitude Games are free to work from wherever they want – yes, up to 100 percent telecommuting – so long as they are online when they need to be. The team members only have to meet for the occasional meeting or company social. The company has adopted this telecommuting policy because it believes that when employees have the freedom of choosing where and when to work, they are happier and more productive.

4. Private chauffeur

Tech real estate company ZipMatch has two private cars for its executives and business dev employees, and the firm plans on getting one more. These employees can avail of the car to get to and from work and to go to any of their business meetings during the day.

While this perk may seem like a luxury, ZipMatch employees feel like it’s a necessity, particularly in the Philippines. Driving in Philippine traffic can be a huge time-suck (not to mention stressor) that can be better spent in the backseat of a car, working on other things, or relaxing. Having a chauffeur also spares employees from the nightmare of having to look for parking in Metro Manila.

See: Rewardz gives Singapore startup employees some corporate style benefits

5. Flexitime

It may always be a challenge to recruit talented engineers, particularly those from abroad, to make the jump to living and working in Southeast Asia. PayrollHero has come up with a unique selling point. The company offers its programmers what it calls adventure engineering, defined by the startup as “an unusual and exciting experience or activity built around a flexible work schedule.”

6. Gym subsidies

7. Shares

8. WordPress sites

9. Saving programs

10. Free smartphones and tablets