[adrianratnapala]

Hmm, I work for Google now, and they are the first company I have worked for with either baristas[1] or ping-pong tables. These are definitely luxurious perks and not "basic niceties".

But Google is not a frugal startup. It's a giant company offering a big complicated benefits package.

[1] Free ones that is. Not counting big plants with cafes that charge market prices and seem to break even.

[hueving]

>These are definitely luxurious perks and not "basic niceties".

I don't think you realize how little these items cost when divided out amongst the number of employees. In particular when you consider the alternative of them leaving the Google campus for a half hour for a coffee break.

If you think catered lunches and the like are purely perks, then you drank the Kool-Aid. There is a reason they don't want you bringing free food/snacks home - it's because when you consume it in the office they are getting a benefit out of it as well.

> and they are the first company I have worked for with either baristas

It's not because Google is that much nicer. It's just because they realized early on the return on investment these things provide. This stuff is pretty much par for the course for newer tech companies in the bay.

[xiphias]

I work at Google as well and actually they give us plastic plates to be able to bring dinner home. Some colleagues of mine use this perk to bring their baby food so that they don't have to cook at home.

There's a catch though: the dinner is served at 18:15

[webkike]

A ping pong table is a one time cost of about $600. I don't understand how that could be considered a luxury in the context of a company in San Francisco

[aninhumer]

The table itself may be cheap, but the office space for it is probably not.

EDIT: Not that I'm saying it's not worth it, just that there are more costs to consider here.

[adrianratnapala]

That, and also the culture that says it's OK to just play ping-pong whenever you feel it is Ok to play ping-pong.

Well, maybe that is not expensive, but it is a big deal, and a company has to back itself to know that it will come out ahead.