[crazygringo]

> As a philosophical exercise: consider replacing pizza with sushi, beer with wine, and ping-pong with Zumba. Still a sensible ad for a tech job? Why/why not?

Thank you. That's one of the best examples of a point I've seen in a while... excellently put!

It gets precisely at how, by offering certain "perks" that easily seem innocuous or just fun, it's actually promoting a very specific workplace culture, that has nothing whatsoever to do with the actual professional job, which so easily works against diversity, and possibly turns away far more talented workers than it attracts.

[mathattack]

It may tell you that the job is anti-diversity, but at least it's honest. If there's a weekly whiskey (or tequila or chocolate brownie) hour at the company, wouldn't you want to know in advance?

[lobotryas]

Did you just imply that "chocolate brownie hour" is "anti-diversity"? Could you expand on your general point a bit more? My take away seems to be: "never offer your employees any perks or optional activities because somene will feel offended/left out/forced to participate against their will".

[mathattack]

Not about diversity, just an example of culture. I wanted to pick a counter-example that didn't include pizza or alcohol, and "chocolate brownie" came to mind first because I had one in front of me. (Unfortunately not company sponsored. It's long gone now!)

The general idea is it's good to know the perks that are offered. Somebody will always feel left out. (People whose diets preclude brownies, for example.) It's good to know what the culture is going in, so that we can self select and only choose to work for places in alignment with our beliefs.

Perhaps more useful signals of culture would be hours worked, amount of autonomy versus teamwork, and types of customer interaction.

[lobotryas]

Fair reply. The discussion so far seems to have hit the usual HN extreme where any trace of impropriety (and thus, arguably, humanity) must be purged from job postings in favor of dry job requirements, lest someone feel ostracized.

For the record, I'd love to work in a company where beer, ping pong and pizza are perks as long as these were done well, instead of just being an obligation. Guess this makes me a "brogrammer" :)