Dive Brief:
- Boxed Wholesale CEO Chieh Huang is at it again, but this time, rather than pay college tuition for his employees’ kids himself, he's now offering to give every employee up to $20,000 to help fund their wedding, according to Inc.
- The Inc. article says Huang's wedding largesse can be traced to a warehouse worker who ran into trouble paying for his wedding because of critical medical bills. Word got back to Huang, who came up with the wedding funding perk.
- According to Inc., five or six employees are planning to get married this year and expect to use the benefit. Huang told Inc. that he figures 10% of the company will ultimately use the benefit. The company, which sells bulk goods, has 122 employees.
Dive Insight:
In another article about the perk, Huang told Quartz that his logic is sound, as paying for the occasional wedding actually costs less than raising salary quickly in a startup. Positive publicity may even drive people to try Boxed Wholesale out as customers.
Like many other startups, Boxed Wholesale is looking for ways to keep costs in line while using benefits, rather than compensation, as a way to drive both the bottom line and employee engagement and loyalty. For example, Huang's company also offers unlimited maternity and paternity leave.
“Building culture is a money-saver over time,” Huang told Quartz. And he adds that employees who don't use some of the perks are on board with being part of the "team and the mission, and I haven’t heard any complaints.”