Abstract

The article lists some of the wonderful benefits available to employees at the most progressive companies in the United States. Three companies-Apple Computer Inc., Marion Laboratories Inc. and Tandem Computer--grant stock options to every single employee. At the Reader's Digest, workers have a four-week paid vacation after their first year there. Employees at Raychem Corp. receive quarterly bonuses pegged to the company's profitability. The formula is: one-half of the return on sales multiplied by one's salary. Assume Raychem netted eight percent on sales in its most recent quarter; the bonus is then four percent; so if one is making $30,000 a year, or $7, 500 per quarter, one's bonus for the quarter is $300. These companies have a "no layoff" policy: Delta Air Lines, Digital Equipment Corp., Exxon, Hewlett-Packard, International Business Machines Corp., S. C. Johnson, and Procter & Gamble Co. They have never-repeat never-instituted a general layoff of employees. At Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. in Milwaukee, lunch is free-every day.