10 Competitive Netflix Employee Benefits That Stand Out

Netflix has grown to become a large and successful media service company over the years, in large part thanks to its world class employees. If you’re aiming for the clouds and hoping to put together your own top-notch team, you can learn a lot by taking note of the benefits and perks Netflix offers its workforce.

Offering competitive benefits is an excellent way to persuade potential employees to consider working for your company. It is also likely to attract talent from diverse backgrounds. 

In this article, we will take a look at Netflix employee benefits and how each has its own advantage for both the employee and employer. This should give you some ideas of what you can do to follow the example and up your talent game. 

Ten Top Netflix Employee Benefits and Perks

1. Stock Option Program

The Stock Option Program lets every employee choose how much of their compensation goes to their salary or stock options. It’s completely optional, and Netflix has no say in whether or not a person has to contribute to this scheme. 

Employees get to determine the ratio of cash to stock options and choose how much risk or upside they want. The options are available for 10 years and are fully vested, which means the employee keeps them even after leaving the company.

The employee can gather as many stock options as they want. They can then buy those options when the prices are right to make a reasonable profit from them. 

2. Finance and Retirement Benefits

Netflix offers a 4% salary match on their 401(k) program. This means that if an employee makes $100,000 annually, then Netflix contributes up to $4,000 toward the 401(k). 

This is a great benefit that potential employees find attractive, as it helps them put a plan in place to secure their future. 

3. Personal Top of Market-based Salaries

The Personal Top of Market incentive is one of the more favorable Netflix employee benefits and gains the company a lot of traction when it comes to its talent. 

“Personal Top of Market” is Netflix’s way of offering a competitive salary to their employees. They are essentially being paid the most that they can within their field. 

This method does not rely on raises or any additional compensation as their employees are already earning as much as they can. Netflix is willing to adjust the employee’s salary as soon as the market changes, without waiting for an annual event to do so.

It’s certainly advantageous to any employee to be paid as much as possible, but whether this perk is sustainable for other companies besides Netflix is debatable. A large company might be able to pull this off, but the same might not be true for smaller companies.

4. Netflix’s Employee Giving Program

Netflix aims to help its employees make an impact outside of work. By this, they mean to help employees when donating to any charitable organization of their choice. 

What Netflix does is match the contributions their employees made, but only up to $20,000. It’s a noble gesture for a company to do and can boost employee morale.

It can increase the amount of respect the employee might have for the employer and help create a positive workspace.

Donating to a charitable organization also has a positive impact within the community of the employee’s choice, which in turn reflects well on the brand in question.

Good public relations should never be shied away from, even if donating is not a viable option. Think along the lines of what the company can do to give back to the community. 

5. The Work, Not Drive-Initiative

Netflix understands that commuting to work can present employees with a few obstacles. Things like rush hour traffic or delayed public transport don’t always sync up favorably with a person’s schedule. 

The “Work, Not Drive” initiative from Netflix provides a solution to this problem. By partnering with a rideshare service, Netflix gives employees time to get started on work in the car while they are driven around.  

It also gives workers more flexibility in working hours, as commute time can be converted to working time. 

Employees can also use a dedicated shuttle service to get to work, lessening their carbon footprint. All in all, a perk like this can make a difference, especially in dense urban areas where traffic and public transport are an issue. 

Related: 9 Stand Out Apple Employee Benefits Its Workforce Loves

6. Employee Relocation Benefits

Relocating because of work-related reasons can be tough on any employee’s personal life. This is considering that wherever they move to, it means adjusting to a new environment, new people, and so on. 

To ease this transition, Netflix assigns what they refer to as a Talent Mobility team. This team’s main goal is to support the employee and their family during their move. In general, the team is tasked to minimize any by providing the employee with insights and help to settle in quicker.

Not many companies offer this sort of incentive, which means that this one is very sought after as far as Netflix employee benefits go. 

7. Flexible Work Hours

Netflix advocates the idea that it is better to work smarter and not harder. In light of this, the company does not incorporate a standard 8-hour workday. 

The end goal is similar to what half-day Fridays or a 4-day work week strives to achieve - efficiency. Instead of having employees work long and hard, they are given more free time with the idea that they can come back to the workspace and perform better, thus increasing productivity.

This kind of system works for Netflix because they already mix work and personal life enough with their employees. However, the regular company that still uses the typical 9-to-5, 5-day work week could find an adjustment to this newer system challenging.

That said, the amount of evidence that supports the idea of giving employees more free time is steadily growing. This could revolutionize the way we think about regular office jobs.

8. Unlimited Paid Time Off

Because Netflix doesn’t follow a traditional 9-to-5 workday, they also don’t use a system where employees only get a set amount of paid vacation. 

This means that employees get to choose how much time off they need. It is supposed to provide them with ample time off to help their mind and body recover. Then they can be more productive during the time that they work.   

9. Parental Leave

Whether it’s the birth of a child or the adoption of one, new parents can take four to eight months of paid leave from work. 

Netflix is really showing how far they are willing to go for the benefit of their employees. Out of several tech companies, employees of Netflix enjoy the longest parental leave.

According to the Family and Medical Leave Act, the legal standard is 12 weeks (three months) of unpaid but protected leave for both parents. In hindsight, this seems like nothing compared to Netflix’s policy.

While not all companies can offer their employees that much parental leave, it makes it worth considering going a bit above the standard three months that is legally required.

10. Meals On The House

A cool perk that employees get to take advantage of when at work is the free snacks and lunch provided for them. 

A lot of the free meals are pre-packed and health-conscious. Any allergies or dietary restrictions are accommodated into the staff meal plans.

Netflix Benefits Tick The Right Boxes

It is clear that Netflix is doing the best it can to keep its employees happy while also remaining current and relevant with the society of today. 

While not every company can compete with these Netflix perks and benefits, you can still learn from their company philosophy. 

Simply offering your employees perks that show you value their time and individual needs can make all the difference when it comes to attracting and retaining quality talent.

Looking for more inspiration? Check out these other awesome perks and benefits from Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Google!