As attrition rate goes up, e-commerce firms dole out Harleys, Bose speakers to retain talent

E-commerce firms such as InMobi, QwikCilver, Shopclues, Wingify, Bluestone and MySmartPrice are doling out Harleys bikes and Bose speakers to retain talent in an industry where attrition rates are climbing up.

Naturally, Gen Y never had it so good before. Freshers are being offered salaries of ₹11-12 lakh per annum, TVs and Bose speakers for Diwali, stock options, all-paid trips abroad, and so on, trying to peg back attrition.

InMobi offers Harley Davidson bikes or Volkswagen Vento cars to employees on completion of three years. For a stress-free life, InMobi offers employees ₹5 lakh of medical insurance to both employees and spouse’s parents, a concierge desk to take care of bill payments, relocation and so on; laundry service, gym with trainer, indoor cricket/badminton, yoga sessions, all meals with snacks and beverages, and ₹50,000 per person every year to learn something new and improve themselves.

“Employee who brings in maximum referrals gets a Royal Enfield bike and others win a European tour for two and tickets for IPL matches,” said Kevin Freitas, Director-Global Compensation & Benefits, InMobi.

QwikCilver’s founder CEO Kumar Sudarsan says the company makes its new hires feel wanted from day one, by assigning them a buddy who will familiarise them with the company. “We also give new hires a customised mug with their name on it, a box of chocolates, ID card, laptop, e-mail ID, business cards, to let them know the organisation has been waiting for them,” said Sudarsan.

MySmartPrice says “thank you” to its employees every Diwali with a 32-inch TV, Bose speakers, DSLR cameras. “Ten per cent of the company’s equity is put into the ESOP pool and given to high performers. We run a meritocracy where salaries of top performers have grown three times in three years,” said Sitakanta Ray, co-founder COO, MySmartPrice.

GenY loves to travel, work on their terms and wear casuals, so we do a yearly trip abroad with spouses to Thailand, Sri Lanka etc, allow them to wear tees, Bermudas, boxers and flip-flops to work and don’t track leave taken, said Sparsh Gupta, co-founder, Wingify.

Bluestone allows its employees to choose jewellery pieces as a marriage gift from a Bluestone catalogue and sends a male security escort along with female employees on the cab commute back home at night.

Radhika Ghai Aggarwal, co-founder CMO, Shopclues, said none of the top management have separate office spaces, they all sit at desks with other employees, wear casuals to work and unlike most companies, offer employees the option to liquidate stock options in two-three years.