FW: Birds in a gilded cage?

[Edward R Weick]

What do tech workers want? As firms try to woo top talent with pool tables and juice bars, some people are eschewing the perks in favour of challenging work, NATALIE SOUTHWORTH writes NATALIE SOUTHWORTH, Globe and Mail Monday, October 30, 2000 What happens when a large, traditional stock brokerage realizes it must compete with savvy dot-coms for high-tech talent? It moves into what it calls the "E!-Development Loft." Two weeks ago, the Bank of Montreal's brokerage arm, Nesbitt Burns, shifted its Web development division out of Toronto's high-rise First Canadian Place and into a 14,000-square-foot loft just outside the financial district. The new work space contains a pool table, cappuccino machine, shower (for employees who rollerblade to work), juice bar and "flow tables" for spontaneous meetings. There's a library featuring back issues of magazines such as Fast Company, with cover stories about being "betrayed by work." "It's as close to home as you can get," says Mark Saunders, senior vice-president and chief information officer at Nesbitt Burns. Attracting the best people has proven a difficult challenge for Nesbitt, which is partly relying on contract Web workers until it builds up its full-time staff, he adds. With today's grand opening of the new loft -- complete with jazz musicians -- the brokerage is dropping its gloves in the bruising fight for talent. "There's no doubt we are competing with startups and dot-coms for the same talent. We have to change to attract and retain the people we want," Mr. Saunders says. The e-loft, on the sixth floor of a building in the old fashion district near the King Street-Spadina Avenue corner, has no fluorescent lighting, walls or imposed working hours. The space has been rewired with fibre optic cable and all of the work stations are ergonomically designed. The "stall blue" colour in the washroom was a decorating error -- it will soon be repainted "sage green." "This whole loft concept is to be able to respond to the needs of the workers. We have to provide a collaborative work environment that enables them to be creative," Mr. Saunders says. He says the brokerage needs to hire about 30 full-time tech staff to complete its 75-person Web team. But will overstuffed sofas and free Nantucket Blend coffee do the trick? Susan Arts, 36, who has worked in new media for six years, says companies that try to lure top talent with pool tables and coffee makers are actually patronizing employees who care about real values, such as challenging work. "When a Nesbitt Burns does this, it just doesn't jibe," she says. "If they [high-tech workers] have to work in a shabby office, but they get to do hot work, they are there." Ms. Arts accepted a job at a 25-person Toronto Web page design company six months ago even though she says the work environment offered few perks. "The office could use a few coats of paint. We don't have a pool table or a cappuccino machine." She most values working with a tight-knit group of people while enjoying a high level of autonomy within the company, she says. Chris Eben also looks beyond the polished floors and indoor basketball courts. The 26-year-old senior implementation specialist turned down a job with a software company in a downtown Toronto loft complete with showers, dark room and pool table. "I loved the office space and the location, but I had more learning opportunities at my current job," Mr. Eben says. He accepted a position in a business park in suburban Markham, Ont., because the work seemed challenging and he could move up quickly within the company. He says what matters most to information technology workers such as himself "is what kind of work you will be doing in the work space, not the work space itself." Nora Spinks, president of Work-Life Harmony Enterprises, a Toronto-based consulting firm, says she is seeing the beginning of a backlash to perks such as nap rooms and juice bars. "Young people don't want to spend all their time working. What they really want to do is go home on time and have a good night's sleep," she says. At Nesbitt Burn's Web development loft, staff have no defined hours of work, to give them greater personal flexibility, Mr. Saunders says. It's all in the name of attracting top tech workers away from smaller startups. "Some people view the banks as not fast paced. We believe we have to adapt to compete," Mr. Saunders says. "We are recruiting for top talent, but the top talent is interviewing us." Ed Weick (613) 728-4630   Visit my website: http://members.eisa.com/~ec086636