THE $6,500 EMPLOYEE "FUN ZONE!!!" (Companies are CLUELESS about what workers actually want.)

[@1337penguinman]

Warehouse workers don't want a "fun zone." If you've ever worked a manual labor job you know that you never seem to have enough time on break to do anything. Here in California it's 10 min breaks and 30 minute lunches. None of these guys is going to want to waste that precious time standing up at an arcade machine when they could get off of their feet for a few minutes.

[@Tempusverum]

I don’t even look at my phone during breaks. Electronics are a vortex that speed up time

[@xa5150]

I can't remember the last job I worked where "lunch" and "break" was anything more than words on a screen/paper.

[@DivineRedwood]

*Exactly, it's even worse when that one person at work INSISTS on talking to you while you're on your break. Leave me alone.*

[@demikpre]

Lol you better not get caught in there having fun 😭😭😭we all know the reality. Also they could've saved thousands and just gotten a couple used arcade machine and been with it

[@llVIU]

the last thing I wanna do as a warehouse worker is fucking STAND UP playing video games. Or do any sort of MORE physical work. I wanna sit on a comfortable sofa, eating some food or snacks, looking at the TV or on my phone.

[@marcelrobinson]

Why do employers think everyone working for them is 10 years old?

[@MHiggins]

That’s the issue. They treat employees like children.

[@businesscat4435]

Because the suckups act like they're still in grade school while the rest of us are busy actually doing our jobs

[@vindictivetiger]

because their employees allow themselves to be treated like that... and a lot of people coming up with these hideous ideas are barely out of high school themselves.

[@yggdrasilburnes]

They think you are expendable, braindead slaves?

[@eitkoml]

They don't. This bs is done because it's cheaper than paying people in currency.

[@MHiggins]

I think Chewy should set up a full gym with everything and allow employees unlimited use before and after work. There is more value to the gym than anything else in that it allows them to stay healthy.

[@johnstamos5948]

Actual self improvement? No, bread and circus!

[@MHiggins]

@@johnstamos5948 Exactly. With the exercise they can ward off diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol and many other terrible illnesses. It will reduce their health insurance costs. There employees will save money in avoiding wasting money on an expensive gym outside that according to statistics most people attend for one to two months and stop going but the gym continues to collect money for many months without attendance. It’s free money for the gym. Imagine someone paying to not use your products.

[@businesscat4435]

That's a fantastic idea. Either that or get them free gym memberships.

[@businesscat4435]

@@MHiggins I bet Chewy doesn't even pay health insurance. They probably only employ everyone part time to avoid having to offer health insurance.

[@Thevoidlezz]

also the company saving money on health insurrance

[@emmacole6781]

I once worked for a company that employed a chef to cook lunch for us. The meals weren't free but were heavily subsidised so very affordable. We could even buy extra meals to take home with us to feed our families. That's what caring about your employees looks like, not treating them like children and giving them f****g air hockey!

[@TheGrinningSkull]

I had that and a table tennis/foosball in the subsidised cafeteria. Best combo!

[@asadb1990]

if i have to spend money at work, i wouldn't work there

[@jacobg8640]

​@@asadb1990 Depends how much the lunch is and if the food is good. If it's no more than getting lunch at the McDonalds or Deli across the street, higher quality and healthy, I would still work there. Otherwise I would just bring a lunch like I had planned to.

[@asadb1990]

@@jacobg8640 regardless knowing how much the business by default makes more than what they pay me, any meals at work need to be paid by work.

[@jacobg8640]

@@asadb1990 I'm not going to shame you for refusing to give your money to anyone you don't want to. But for me, it's all strict business. I had a job that offered subsidized Uber rides to the office even though they could afford to offer it for free. Even though I had to pay something, it was still way less than any other form of transportation. If it saves me money, I'm not going to let the fact that it should be offered for free stop me from saving money. Or I'll just not pay at all if it's an alternative.

[@jellybelly111]

About $6,000 for a bunch of old games that everyone can play on an emulator for FREE. Nice job, HR 👏👏👏

[@danishhameed8799]

Lol so true

[@Masami_Salami]

This was all bought from Wal-Mart

[@Hvb101]

True!

[@ducksoop.x]

It would be at least a little cool if these cabinets were real but they're just walmart knockoffs.

[@llVIU]

games from 30 years ago, when we were 10 years old. Because boomers still think we're a bunch of kids playing mario at home on our TV.

[@edwardwongks]

This shows how disconnected HR departments are with the rest of the business. This was purely a HR initiative, and since that HR person needs to look like they accomplished something, they suggested some ideas within their ability to produce (that's why you keep seeing stupid game rooms that nobody uses). $6.5k is a tiny amount, the HR director probably signed that off with their eyes closed. If they really wanted to improve worker morale, working environment, etc... then HR would have to actually speak with warehouse operations and then the ideas would become very expensive and more difficult to justify. I do love the idea of a gym though, that's probably way more beneficial. But again, I'd imagine a warehouse worker after a long day's work would be too exhausted to go to the gym.

[@chrism8180]

They don't care about your opinion, they take orders from the board of directors

[@kod333_3]

Not really, I work in a warehouse and go straight to the gym 3 days a week after work. My warehouse has a gym but I dont use it cuz it is busy and you have to schedule when you go in.

[@jeffweingrad4658]

And on it goes on the resume or the LinkedIn

[@abduldajewl]

I was gonna say the same thing. When I was at a warehouse, I hit the gym aftet all the time. Shit even paying my gym membership would have been better.

[@rejectionistmanifesto8836]

Companies want good slaves who are married/have kids. After about 20 years working, I'll tell young people you should not have any loyalty to any organization, they will turn on you in a second when its convenient and fire/replace you. Also to ensure no slavery, young people dont get married and dont get a girl pregnant, make sure she takes the birth control pill daily in front of you and both wear protection. You will just condemn your new child to increasing poverty and freedomless slavery and these control/money/job trends worsen. Promote this idea in videos and social media to help prevent more young people into this new slavery.

[@GenX-Memories]

Back in the early 2000s I worked for a software company called Wise Solutions (no longer around - they made those Wise Installers that you'd see as you tried to install your new software). Now remember that this was 20 years ago. They had unlimited free drinks (pop, juice, etc.) in coolers throughout the building, as well as a MAME machine in a break area with hundreds of games installed and a PS1 in another area. So naturally, as a young dude, I used both of these. The dirty looks from my manager (who I only now assume was "tipped off" by other employees that we were actually using the MAME machine) were puzzling to me, as were the complaints that we actually used the PS1 at lunch every day. Long story short, I was eventually fired. They give you stuff like this and then are angry when you use it.

[@johnwilliamson2393]

Because it's not for you. It's for a tax write-off!

[@The-Great-Brindian]

I know exactly how you felt then Aglarend and sadly there are people who experiencing this kind of nonsense even today. It is these experiences which make us anti Corporate. And Rightfuly so.

[@ccricers]

It's like those "unlimited PTO" perks. They get mad when you use them TOO much because now it's suddenly bad. If a corp is worried that the perk they're offering will be subject to Tragedy of the Commons, it's in better faith to not give it at all.

[@music79075]

@@ccricers Tragedy of the Commons?

[@lorahassani7728]

I'm a HR Professional - I would never support a "Fun Zone" unless an overwhelming number of employees specifically asked for it. For the most part, employees want good pay and benefits, recognition for work well done; they want to contribute to how the work is done and the practices controlling the work flow. They also want opportunities to advance and evolve their careers to improve their earnings potential. Employees also want the bosses to treat employees with respect and not like they are disposable/expendable.

[@thuglifebear5256]

How do you feel about sectioning off a private corner with it's own walls, a coffee machine, a coffee table, a fridge and a microwave, a top of the line a/c, a 2nd hand tv screen, some decent couches, and maybe a cheap dartboard? I understand maybe $6500 isn't enough to give small bonuses to the warehouse guys over there, but a private room with a good a/c seems _way_ more respectful.

[@darkhighwayman1757]

My old boss would take My old team out for drinks and food. We would leave 1 dude behind to cover. We loved being able to goof around for 2 hours on the company dime. It was like once or twice a quarter. Major morale booster. Then they killed it for ordering pizza in-house while we worked. Then eventually killed that.

[@The-Great-Brindian]

well said Lora.

[@DaveyBooBoo]

Yo Lora, you should become a professor. HR has it all backwards

[@The-Great-Brindian]

The term 'HR' (Human Resources) has never really gone down well with me since I became an adult. Funnily enough, all my rotten experiences with employers involved 'HR'. join the dots..

[@CaptainXanax]

Lol... My last company had a "fun zone" that no one used. It even had the requisite foosball table. It's a good way of telling employees "here's your potential raise spent on bullshit".

[@Cree_Money]

Imagine thinking 1980's arcade games are going to increase employee retention....

[@acsound]

Those are 1990s arcade games, but your point stands. I'm 110% sure that every working-age employee under 50 years old has XBOX LIVE, PLAYSTATION HOME, or makes purchases on Nintendo eSHOP through their SWITCH (b/c fuck NINTENDO ONLINE--bring back the VIRTUAL CONSOLE).

[@roguedalek900]

@@acsound it's lost on me. Last video game I played was Tron in 1978.

[@acsound]

@@roguedalek900 I was about 1-2 in 1978; my remembered childhood was the 1980s - 1995. Thus, I know all of those arcade cabinets...are 30+ years out of date.

[@MrMarckeedee]

These games are inferior compared to what you can do on your smart phone. No one will play then. They put them there to fool the employees that the company is proactive about letting you have fun, knowing you are going to be board in about 5 minutes. That and the company’s price to make you think they are cool, ironic and retro etc Wow 😮 retro video games. How quirky! Wow!!! Shit makes want to puke.

[@Bobbing4Fries]

LMAO. Employee: Ya know this workload, poor management, and lack of time off make me want to quit this job ... but, if I did, how will I set the points record on Street Fighter II!?

[@theotherway1639]

Don't companies set up these "fun zone" areas to get an insurance discount? I thought it's about getting lower premiums...by showing the insurer they have stress reducing activities and BS like that. It's not about the employees, it's about saving money through a different means.

[@Parlimant_Strifey]

creative accounting practices.

[@chrism8180]

Bingo bango👍

[@chrism8180]

@@Parlimant_Strifey by exploitative means

[@abel6846]

Sounds entirely plausible.

[@МарияК-з1е]

You are right, that's exactly it.

[@TheMasterGamer94Meck]

We don't want "fun zones". We want MORE MONEY. I have my own fun zone in my house

[@ragex7786]

Exactly!!

[@The-Great-Brindian]

yeah well so true lol

[@onimekyo7633]

Actually, most people have fun zones in their houses They just need more money and less time working

[@TumblinWeeds]

Tbf $6500 doesn’t spread that far among hundreds of employees. You’re probably going home with a $10 gift card. And HR has nothing to show for it so they won’t fund it.

[@ragex7786]

@@TumblinWeeds your missing the point..🤦‍♂️

[@EyePatchGuy88]

The worst part isn't the cringe, that's the second worst thing about it. The worst part is the fact that employees won't have immediate access to this Fun Zone, having to ask permission from the manager to use it, and the manager will instinctively hate you if you use it regularly. If you want good employee perks, free snacks, lunch, and beverages is a good one. Me and my family are finding it harder and harder to cook healthy homemade meals, often resorting to expensive garbage food. Then again, if a company offers borderline prison food, then it's better that they not try.

[@J3unG]

Yeh. It's a trap.

[@roguedalek900]

One time $6500 lay out for 30 year old video games VS 15K a year for snacks food or drinks. And they can show the insurance company they are proactive with stress reduction and get $25 K a year premium reduction.

[@jeffweingrad4658]

There will be a sign in sheet and it'll be shut down if not enough use. Don't worry about reasons why is the corporate motto!

[@gregorymoore2877]

@@roguedalek900 If you're going to have arcade games, they may as well be vintage. I've seen some of what I guess are newer arcade games and they don't look very interesting.

[@TheKlopka]

As someone who used to work a warehouse, I guarantee an extra forklift or some extra pallets would make most of those employee's month

[@Aimeesund]

Yes. Make the actual job easier by providing enough equipment in good repair to do a good job. It is discouraging to feel like you are fighting and uphill battle every single day.

[@asadb1990]

also why not train everyone to use the forklift so people can alternate the work.

[@yengthao1322]

@@asadb1990 because investing in their employees would be too expensive or inconvenient apparently. Damn thing only takes a week at most to get used to.

[@thomasa5619]

@@asadb1990 because that means the company is paying to improve a resume lol. “We don’t want you to leave after giving you this training”

[@fuckyougoogle1394]

Yeah, or fixing some of the bullshit they have to use, step stools, rollers working properly, etc. We'll watch you like a hawk and OH OH you're using a step stool that doesn't have all the rubber grommets!!!! Thats an HR writeup!! you'll be fired if you keep doing this!!! meanwhile, people have to fight for and hide the working step stools and other equipment that actually functions properly so they don't risk getting fired. So fkn out of touch. YOU"RE LIFTING THIS BOX OF AIR ABOVE YOUR CORE ZONE!!! THATS A WRITEUP!!!

[@dkgong]

I used to work at a company that had an arcade-like "fun zone". Hardly ever used it because I preferred working instead. It was only when they shut down the business and I was one of the few left over in the transition skeleton crew that I would spend my time in the arcade all day. lol.

[@Nerobyrne]

My boss lets me play games on my work PC. I'm the IT admin, so I can just install them ^.^ But, the point here is, he's fine with me playing games on break because the work gets done. I don't need expensive "fun zones", I just need access to my Steam library.

[@collegeman1988]

Reminds me of an out of touch parent who thinks that buying games for their children is the way to win their affection instead of listening to and spending quality time with them. Are these games something the employees asked for as part of their job? If not, it means the higher ups aren’t listening to what their employees actually want in terms of job satisfaction.

[@8015908]

And no doubt those parents be like: "I bought you a game that you probably don't like, be grateful"

[@TKUltra971]

Yeah, i don't buy all this 'fun at work' bullshit. I'm here to work and get paid. My Fun? Is on my own time. Morons will drink this cool aid and wonder why they are in the hot seat because they 'lack focus' due to all this 'workplace fun'.

[@voidspirit111]

@@TKUltra971 depends on the workplace culture. My manager scolded me for not using the "fun zone" and socializing... also, there were som that were spending 1-2h in the fun zone during working hours and they never got a warning..

[@MrMarckeedee]

Out of touch grand parent that buys the grandkids shit that’s decades dated. That’s what these video games are for people under 50. And the ones 50 to 60 already played the shit out of these games in the 80s and 90s and grew out of them by the time the time they got into college. HR knows no one is going to play these games. Anyway That’s what we have our phones for!

[@TKUltra971]

@@MrMarckeedee Well i wouldn't say all that. 50-60 year olds burnt themselves out on Street Fighter II? Doubtful but not impossible. Most that really fell in love with the arcade during that time in the 90s are hitting their late 30s and early 40s. Those that were from the 80s arcade scene are knocking on 50s door if not there already. (mid 20s around 1995-1996). You mostly never grow out of gaming and you don't need to be married to your cellphone playing cash grab games to have a good time.

[@jbb8261]

I work completely remote now after working in an office that had these “perks.” We were absolutely positively *scolded* for even daring to look at them. If we wanted to work in the “lounge” and drink beer from the KEG WE HAD IN THE SNACK ROOM, we were admonished. All of these things are traps and I’m convinced that they’re tax write offs. Because they don’t want you using them.

[@hedark1135]

Lol yeah. They are there to look nice.

[@Broken6790]

I've worked labour in a warehouse with labor staff and corporate and I can say that labor was not welcome in the break room as it was for corporate staff. I assume that some worker said something like "I want a break room" and our of touch HR thought it meant THIS rather than someplace to sit and eat their lunch, maybe get some coffee that wasn't reserved for the suits. This 100% feels like something that's for corporate and will not be usable for general staff.

[@mototacularlife5267]

Retention problems can be solved by “Paying People Well above the other available jobs in the area” don’t space drive them to produce some bs metric every min of the day.

[@fumanpoo4725]

Retention is what I deal with when playing poop games, not while st work...

[@wesmcquillen]

If this is the Northern Nevada Chewy warehouse, which it looks like it is, they are one of the highest paying warehouse gigs in the area and often blamed for why no one can staff fast food joints anymore - "why get $12/hr at Wendy's when anyone can go start at Chewy for $19/hr?" is a common refrain around here

[@OtherDalfite]

Performance trackers are the cancer that is killing the American worker

[@llVIU]

you pay the workers more but you don't have an asset. Once they leave you don't have anything left. But if you buy an object and they leave, you still have the object. That's how retarded bosses think. "people come and go" yeah well maybe they go because they don't like working for you???

[@rejectionistmanifesto8836]

Companies want good slaves who are married/have kids. After about 20 years working, I'll tell young people you should not have any loyalty to any organization, they will turn on you in a second when its convenient and fire/replace you. Also to ensure no slavery, young people dont get married and dont get a girl pregnant, make sure she takes the birth control pill daily in front of you and both wear protection. You will just condemn your new child to increasing poverty and freedomless slavery and these control/money/job trends worsen. Promote this idea in videos and social media to help prevent more young people into this new slavery.

[@elenaravenwood9851]

They do that because they want to have a "proof" of being kind. You cant really frame gift receipt on a wall for future employee, investor or anyone else that is not the current employee to see so i guess making a gaming room is the next best thing people can do.

[@shadyflames]

I used to work at an Amazon warehouse. They had one of those basketball cages. After two years of working there, it was RARELY touched. The employees were so overworked and tired, the last thing they wanted to do during their break was more physical work and shoot hoops. These corporations are so out of touch its insane.

[@Parcha64]

This is like searching for apartments and having to pay out the ass because everyone in town just bought a "business center/gym/kitchen/movie theater" instead of spending on actual habitable units.

[@jenniferbond7073]

Not to mention those amenities that except for the gym, you are likely are not going to use is factored into the rent. These are not “free”. I work in real estate and seen how these are factored into the rent, the rent on the space, the electricity used, maintenance you name it, factored into the rent for your u it.

[@jermainemyrn19]

I remember interviewing at Chewys. I got a forced vibe there, so i ignored their phone call when they called back.

[@Merkavastreetfighter]

When I worked at a giant Satellite Wifi company, they brought some old school arcade style consoles to the break room (that had crappy uncomfortable plastic chairs, could have got a couch). They readily posted it on the recruiting social media page. Next day we got an email from the director with this exact quote "If I catch any of you 1 minute over your break time playing the game, we will take those machines away and you will be terminated on the spot".

[@meligoth]

I remember this same crap when I worked at a DirecTV call center. They had these arcade games, but it does not take a rocket surgeon to figure out that no one has time to use these arcade games during lunches or breaks when people prefer to rest like taking a nap, maybe communicate to home with loved ones, and eat. There are better ways to improve a breakroom for much cheaper depending on the needs of the employees.

[@1337penguinman]

Extra microwaves for one. More comfortable lunch chairs.

[@MasterGhostf]

Windows, quality snacks, comfortable chairs, maybe some calming music?, and couches would work for a break room.

[@ericmiller254]

Salaried employees can use them tho brah

[@MrMarckeedee]

No one uses them. These games are a novelty and there for decor. They look cool and make an atmosphere. Managers and hr know this and they are not going to be used for more than 5 minutes at a time. There is a bar near where I work who’s theme is old arcade games. They are there for decoration and 60% of the. Don’t work. No one actually plays them. I don’t see anyone actually using these in a workplace fun room. Maybe people could go to the “fun room” and just play on their phones and spend time on social media because that’s what people (especially in their 20’s and 30s) want to do. Not play Centipede circa 1984. Lmfao

[@meligoth]

I want to add that this stunt happened in 2004 when I worked at a call center. So this bullshit that the guy spent over 6k thinking "out of the box" is enough of a pile of bullshit to wow Jeff Goldblum, and it takes alot of shit to impress him.

[@Camera728]

Game rooms are a hit or miss... The first AAA Studio that I worked at had a huge game room and it was always occupied throughout the day. Management didn't seem to care if people were in there for a couple of hours or host weekly tournaments. Now I also worked at a startup where HR would have an issue if people were late coming out of the game room.

[@HrHaakon]

As someone who's worked "on the floor", I can tell you that stuff like a better lunch/break room, two moccamasters instead of one (I'm Norwegian, anything below moccamaster level of coffee machinery leads to mutinies, revolts, and no jury will ever convict us), fixing up the bathroom, etc. are always going to be well received. And if you had this sort of money during covid times and said "we'll install air filters to give you better air quality", we'll all be happy about that too. A fucking FUN ROOM? What are we, FIVE!? What really gets me is the fake positivity on LinkedIn. I fucking hate it.

[@dmwalker24]

Further proof that business degrees, executive pay packages, and hundreds of people forced to treat you with respect you don't deserve does nothing to compensate for a general inability to think. If the question is, "Why are we all doomed?", the answer is, "The fun zone is what passes for creativity". I hate people like this so much, and it's mostly because of how unbelievably tedious and vapid they are.

[@bonemar66]

It's like someone who was 25 in 1993 assembled a list of "what the kids are into", and built a rad rumpus room around it. We'll play Grand Master Flash and LL Cool J CDs on the system 24/7. It'll be sick. #ThinkingBig *air horns* bwa-bwa-bwaaahhh

[@Comicsluvr]

I once worked at a small manufacturing plant that got a bonus from a customer (IBM I think it was) for getting retooled to run new parts in record time. The HR person asked us what we wanted and we all agreed on longer breaks and coffee and doughnuts every Monday. Granted, this cost way more than $6500 but productivity went up thanks to more time to rest at break and people being a little less cranky on Mondays thanks to free grub. Companies are afraid to ask their employees what they want because in most cases it'll be 'better pay and benefits.'

[@dariusz.9119]

I had a fun zone at my work. Unfortunately I never had time to use it. At work, I had so many things on my head I sometimes didn't even had time to go to the bathroom. And after 8 hours of work I was sick and tired of the office space and all I wanted was to get away as fast as possible. I never understood what those spaces were and who they were for. Nobody ever used them, they were there just to collect dust

[@Kimchi_Studios]

I found an article that surveyed what developers were most worried about with their job and the employee culture and safe workspace shit was at the bottom! The LEAST of their worries. The top worries were being underpaid and stuck in their position. 🍷🧔

[@hzlin3005]

can you link the article? I'd love to read it!

[@Kimchi_Studios]

@@hzlin3005 I try not to post links in other people's comments but I did cover it recently if that helps 😉

[@PositiveVibesVids]

Having worked at warehouses before, this is the most ridiculous thing. Everyone there is tired and just wants to go hone. Or smoke a cig on break lol

[@roumdboi]

Coming from someone who used to work overnights at the Chewy warehouse: They're fucking awful. The training person literally said "we're trying to be the Amazon of pet supplies" and they seem to try and copycat Amazon's business model with a frilly friendly cover. Edut: Also they tried to sneakily convince us unionizing was illegal

[@Masnokinza]

Sounds like the Walmart anti union videos they used to make people watch during the hiring process. They would fire you for even talking about unions there. I've been out of that place for 8 years, now almost every time I go there I wear a union jacket.

[@Max-lf3tx]

Notice that it isn't in a room it's in the corner of a wide open space and there's nowhere to sit down and relax. Don't be fooled this is there for ammunition to use against you.

[@brokensystembrokentrust]

I worked in the franchise industry most my life. The franchise industry is a great place to work because of PROFIT SHARING incentives. Unlike other industries like retail or food service, you rarely, if ever get rewarded for extra work, it's just expected. And I'm not talking about time and a half (overtime). I mean, in the franchise industry, sometimes my paychecks would be higher than my bosses, because of the way the financial incentives work!

[@MHiggins]

They should go in real close and see the dust gathered on the arcade games to show they haven’t been used since they originally installed them. The only person using them was the CEO when it was first installed.

[@nikonhckr]

I worked at a company that had one of these rooms. It never mattered how far ahead you were with your work. If you were in this room, they would come find you with something to work on. You couldn't be in there for more than a few minutes without management complaining you weren't on the grinding stone.

[@Masochist4Melons]

More bathrooms. Most warehouses have the bare minimum amount of bathrooms the law requires. hundreds of people in an amazon warehouse using 2 or 3 restrooms. gross.

[@efjefe]

Yeah i remember when perks was health insurance and pensions. Now you get play stations and starbuck gift cards

[@maddeninggamer]

I think the deal with these is that they are trying to do what they are saying and they want to keep it long term. But they are being cheap about how they achieve it. A free coffee/meal for everyone for example. Sure it's nice to have it one time, but that is going to pass and get forgotten by the next morning unless it becomes a company habit. Gift cards fall in the same category where it's spent and forgotten. Their "fun zones" are a solution where the value of what they have doesn't change for all employees, present and future. The drawback is that value isn't very high to begin with compared to more appealing options like "free lunch if you feel like it". And a lot of the more appealing options cost a lot more over time versus a one time purchase for a few arcade cabinets and a massage chair.

[@JoshuaFluke1]

Yes

[@GotMilk8]

I don't think any company would "retain" any employee based on a game room. S*** pay? I'm out!

[@AnthonyMcqueen1987]

This is all for looks and marketing we all know this no one uses this unless they want to be fired. Companies in america treating adults like children.

[@cafeta]

I worked in a company that had a coffee break area... the trick was if any boss saw you there, you would get reprimanded :(

[@jonathanregan5682]

Then why the room exists?

[@cafeta]

@@jonathanregan5682 so the visitors would think we were a progressive company.

[@mikeg3529]

Outdated arcade games set to "free play" was a nice perk....at my childhood dentists office waiting room I went to growing up.

[@jdubz8173]

I might've said this before, but this kind of action always comes off to me like some kind of misplaced desire for a family syndrome. It's as if the HR dept thinks they're the mommies and daddies of the employees but are confused why their children don't like them.

[@smallypuppy22]

I think it looks fucking sad and outdated, like the whole "fun" zone has fallen into a bizarre trapped in a future dystopia sort of space. Gives me the creeps to be honest

[@johncasey1020]

"Side eyed by your manager if you actually use them..." Brilliant !

[@SL-lz9jr]

My favorite job perks are fully paid (or nearly fully paid) health insurance premiums, unlimited or 4 weeks PTO, flexible work hours/schedule (within reason - not all jobs can do that), and throw in a healthy lunch or snack (optional). But, of course, this all costs a lot of money. It’s a lot easier to throw away $6500 than it is to actually give people something useful and beneficial. But here’s the thing, I’m used to getting benefits like these at the companies I’ve worked for. So, it’s possible. Get it together HR

[@The-Great-Brindian]

To date, everything you have highlighted about the Corporate work culture in the modern era is 100% true. I shudder to think of the days when Corporate Cringe was at its peak, I do believe this would have been late 90s and well, through much of the noughties and beyond. It still fucking exists and its disgusting, so are the people who champion its cause and do all they can to ensure their longevity. Some people who are control freaks, sociopaths, psychopaths, narcissists 'thrive' on office based environments and corporate culture. They'll pretend to be your workspace colleagues but they'll plot a way to get you in trouble too. These parasitic entities reside in all kinds of corporate cultures and are predominantly found in office based working environments.

[@stephaniesomer5934]

All I thought about was how it sounded like- “Friend Zone”.

[@iAlwaysSpeakTheTruth]

Companies are not clueless. They know exactly what they are doing. They are trying to condition you to accept “fun.”

[@SoulsJourney]

They must be trying to attract younger workers, like high schoolers. HR must have been under pressure from the union. Their basic function is keep the company from being sued.

[@llVIU]

arcade games from 20 years ago, that you can play at home for free WITHOUT STANDING UP, 6000 usd wasted... they are so out of touch with reality. Your comment seems so likely to be possible. And this workplace most likely requires them to stand up all day long.

[@Balgoriusis]

I'm a senior dev. and I hate corp culture. I would regularly send HR people to hell, when they came to my office and bothered me with stuff like mandatory buffet or fun meetup. I was even invited twice to a "thank you" breakfast with CEO, I never went there. And my direct bosses totally loved me for it, because I always delivered my job on time and were happy to pay me extra monthly and quarterly bonuses. PS: During Covid, I left corporate sphere and became private contractor. More money this way.

[@ardentword508]

As a 30 something with wife and son, I can't comprehend who over the age of like 24 would be into this. As you say, I don't want to be treated like a child in my place of work. The fact that this seems to be a largely blue collar environment makes this even more ridiculous.

[@AlexEwan1]

Got to agree with you Joshua. Training or high quality coffee machines would be more better use of the money than a 'fun zone'. IF you spend all your shift on your feet you will want to sit down during your breaks not stand playing arcade games, ping pong etc... One place I worked many years had a chef come in and make lunch for people to buy for £3.This was in London and even then there was no way you could buy a hot meal for that price so it was a really well appreciated perk. In fact you could just put the $6,500 in the pay rise pot so people can earn a little more money.

[@Thevoidlezz]

everybody can you say corporate tax deductions

[@GuillermoDelTotoro]

$6,500 on a fun zone in a warehouse? It's one thing to try and sell this bs to office workers but when doing manual labor they're counting every second you're not moving. Also, warehouses are huge and take almost a whole break to walk from one end to the other alone. You won't just get side eye for using this, you'll be out of a job.

[@GortFromAltier4]

There's a Chewy call center near where I live. It's known for extremely high turn over rate and they're known for having a terrible work culture, especially the call center employees

[@jlebrech]

Looks like a middle management break out room

[@hbrg9173]

Josh - "I like Chewie" Me - Ah a star wars fan Josh - "I buy it for my dogs" Me - O_O

[@JoshuaFluke1]

Both are great. My dogs really enjoy how he tastes.

[@GoonCity777]

These reminds me of stay-at-home mothers plopping their children in front of video games and calling it parenthood.

[@LordPrometheous]

With $6K, if there's say, 30 on-management warehouse employees, I'd give them $200 each. Or if gift cards are discounted, give them cards for a bit higher amount. Several nice Kurog machines that get K-cups replenished every day, maybe a giant popcorn machine, free bottled water in the breakroom (Aquafina or something, not the gross cheap water from Walmart or Kroger), and every Friday, catered food that gets voted on from a list each Tuesday or Wednesday. To prevent pizza every week, the top 5 or 10 choices get eliminated once they've been picked, and they are excluded until the list is whittled down, then new votes are cast again. Anything but a breakroom full of arcade games. Ping pong is fine bc at least you get to move around, get a little exercise and blood flowing, but forget the rest. We can play games at home, and somebody would whine about violent games, or too much screaming from competitive players disturbing other workers.

[@theweebdev]

I worked with a company before with all these perks. Good thing is everyone can use it without feeling any guilt. When I am coding and I feel like I'm stuck, I just talk to my fellow developers to play table tennis, billiards or any other games for 30mins(sometimes 1 hour) to relax and when we come back we already know the solution lol The client doesn't give a f*ck at all as long as we finish our task and in fact they join us once in a while so I think it depends on the company.

[@Green_Roc]

What the hell happened to corporate America in the last 40 years. Employees work to pay rent, food, and they can buy their own games at home.

[@LinkageAX]

The good ole employee trap. I once made the mistake of using the ping pong table at one of my old jobs.

[@Matt-sl1wg]

It's not such a big waste of money for the company really... $6500 costs less than a 25cent raise for all the staff!

[@theplaintech]

Chewy. Chewy. Tell you what: How about a couple of kennels. One kennel would have a number of cats and kittens in a great feline environment. Another kennel with lovable puppies and dogs in a canine friendly environment. Employees could come and pet them, spend some time with them, play with them, give them treats for awhile and go back to work refreshed.

[@macktheripper7454]

Not exactly fair on the dogs tho is it? What about bring your own dog to work?

[@theplaintech]

@@macktheripper7454 If it's rescues that are treated well, no harm, no foul: It's Chewy, right?

[@sukhpalsandhu6341]

My friend worked at a company that decided to go open concept and 'trendy' that had a table tennis table, pool table, video games, etc, and one day a few guys were playing table tennis and then one had a heart attack and passed away. Sad!

[@CChissel]

I got offered a job through email the other day, and most of what they said to entice me was “all the fun!! They have, and the many office events which include “prizes” and “trips outside the office as a group” which makes it sound like hell to me.

[@bluesteel1]

On the first day of our orientation as new joinees we were given a tour of the office which ended in the game room where we were explicitly told not to be in unless we had permission from the manager ....

[@brianbird3756]

I worked for a company with a party room in the warehouse. It had a hard-core stereo system beer neons on the wall, rgb lighting, and a beer pong table. In the back of the warehouse, which is on a large property outside of city limits, they had a few four wheelers. They had a "company party" at least once a month, where we were encouraged to bring our family and have fun. I went to a couple, and they genuinely cared about getting to know our families and we had a decent time. I didn't work for them for very long though, because they refused to offer paid vacation. I guess that's why they had such a high turn-over rate.🤷‍♂️

[@KittenGoneBad]

Worked for several companies with foozeball tables, etc. They were never used. One had boxes piled on it. Nobody uses these as the management doesnt approve.

[@clashwithmoi8926]

Our break rooms at walmart david glass building are used pretty heavily, mostly the pool tables and foosball and some of the retro consoles and vr stations. People usually play during lunch and managers encourage taking short breaks during the day. We usually drop by for a quick game on the way back from the meetings rooms.

[@ragex7786]

My job has this. Every worker including myself were pissed. We don't want a "game room" we want raises,bonuses and recognition of being valued for our work. Also, we are so busy slaving away nobody has time to go to the "game room" this is an actual insult and joke if a company does this.

[@frig7014]

I worked at a call center once that had one of these "employee game rooms" with a xbox and ps4 and all manner of crap like that. Of course, your manager wouldn't dream of letting you take a break any longer than 5 minutes during your shift.

[@Baldur1005]

Well, if there isn't daily or weekly allowance (how much time of your worktime you can spend here) for using fun zones then it falls kinda the same category as unlimited vacation (where nobody says how much is too much)

[@HLTrizzay]

Our factory has ping pong tables and we love it. It’s true they hardly get used during work hours but before or after work all 5 are always being used. We also have tournaments once a year for them.

[@iPLAYtheSTATION]

If I'm gonna have a break at work and I wanna do something fun, I'd rather just bust out my Nintendo Switch. Better yet, I would rather go home early and play my PS4 or hangout with my Discord friends instead of taking a mandatory hour break. Some HR people are just so out of touch with the world today.

[@volodymyryakovenko951]

This video reminded me one situation happened with me at work. I was resting in one of those “resting room” on a couch in my brake. We have there couple couches, tv, books, nothing fancy just a room with a glass door. One department manager was passing by and saw me. He advised don’t be here because new director doesn’t like things like this… Funny, but those two person left the company.

[@bradenmillard938]

I enjoy the forklift sounds in the background of their video

[@patmarek1222]

One of the companies I used to work (IT support agent) for had a PS4 in the leasure area. Worked there only 3 months and quit. I NEVER had the time to use the damn thing during limited break time. Would have to sacrifice the toilet/lunch time to even play a quick football/soccer match. Since then pretty much lost all belief in this culture of play/work stuff in corporate. And that wasn't even in US lmao 🤣🤣

[@saywhatnow57]

I worked at a company back in the 90s well ahead of the curve on this stuff. They've even upgraded since and have a full arcade/playroom that's actually much nicer and cooler than the one in this video. It's all for show. It makes for a neat place to hang out for 10 minutes here and there, once or twice a month, but it's mostly used for client tours and special events. It's all PR.

[@patmarek1222]

@@saywhatnow57 yep pretty much.

[@thescarp2]

"starbucks quality coffee" oh god please no

[@jenniferbond7073]

This is so dumb. No one wants to play arcade games if they have time to take a break. I want to rest my mind, warehouse workers want to get off their feet not stand around. Give a a extra day or two day off, or a little extra $$$, that would be my fun zone.

[@sajidhaniff7558]

If you think about it, The HR person did a pro gamer move and leached money out the company due to their hate for capitalism (lol)

[@gabbo13]

Joshua, they're not the only ones who have these stuff. The call centers/BPO also have the "Fun Zone" thing, but it's for the candidates, guests and administrative people only, not agents and lower because they don't want to get discharged and fired.

[@seanmysel5823]

A few years ago I offered this perk to my employees: we'll pay for an all inclusive trip (outside of souvenir spending) to the US Virgin Islands or the cash equivalent. So either they got a paid trip or I showed them how much we paid for the trip and they could have the cash. I didn't want to have a scenario where they felt like they were forced to go, but they didn't go away empty handed. All of them got pay raises that pulled them over six figures a year and they got a multi four figure bonus. Actual cash in hand perks, health, longer vacation, pto, etc is what they want and of course, they all worked from home and weren't pulled on pointless meetings.

[@RockyZajThoj]

We had a fun zone at our warehouse. No one technically used it because like most of you guys know who wants to take a lunch on their feet. Us second shift decided to start using it and would hold arcade tournaments, from golden tee to nba jam. Well it got popular and when the supervisor got a hold of it he decided to put people on break scheduled which completely destroyed everyone from using the "fun zone".

[@_baller]

I don't really understand these concepts, I feel like if I used it I'd be marked as not a valuable employee cuz I have time to goof around

[@patdoty788]

why would these companies listen to and do anything that the people they are trying to keep suggest they do to keep them? this is the level of incompetence we are dealing with

[@zmihnea]

4:23 - fancy coffee machine was my first thought for a better alternative.

[@shawnkay5462]

No one has any energy or time to play games on their break. Lol

[@I_am_Raziel]

Exactly. You use it to make... A break and to eat something.

[@slaternapier1640]

a call center i worked for had a similar break-room...30 min lunches...no one really used it except for the new-hires..before they got yelled at for wasting time..

[@void________]

Okay, your suggestions were no better than the fooz ball. I for sure thought you were gonna say cash prize raffle.

[@stew6662]

At my job they have a “meditation room” that no one uses because its facing wall is glass so no privacy and everyone can see you sitting there not working. Most people just sit in their cars in the parking lot for some alone time.

[@happyarmadillofarm9026]

fun zone is at the front lobby in the front building while warehouse workers are in buildings all the way in the back. Break would be over by the time they walk over to the "fun room".

[@reconzar]

perks are write offs for companies, but when I was working in an office we could never use it anyways.

[@JonLupen]

As an hourly employee, there are not words for how much a one hour lunch would improve my job satisfaction.

[@clevelandleathermaker299]

For these giant warehouses, I think bathrooms in each sector; Segways to get to sections faster; and better airflow so you don't pass out due to the heat, more than some gametoom, with vintage arcade games from the 90s.

[@ralphsmith7816]

I worked as a 3D Environment artist at a AAA videogame development company. We had a "fun zone" and it was constantly used all day long. After a few hours of cranking away, we'd go to the game room, goof off, stretch our legs, do some juvenile crap, and then get back making cool sh*t. The job would have been a lot more stressful without the space to just goof off and play when we got frustrated ... particularly during that crunch time right before we shipped a title. It was also nice that management gave us enough freedom to essentially be kids @ work. As long as we hit the deadline, we could do just about anything ... as long as it was legal. Lot of fun/stupid stuff happened in that "fun zone"