American Express Canada incentivizing employees working onsite with meal stipend, snacks

Employees receive $15 for lunch and, in addition to coffee and tea, the company now offers fresh fruit and snacks.

Read: American Express pushing hybrid work launch to 2022

Last year, AmEx rolled out its hybrid working arrangement in several global markets. Kingsley says 40 per cent of Canadian employees are working remotely, while the remainder are working onsite between two and four days per week. In addition to perks, the opportunity to work in-person with colleagues is also incentivizing employees to return to the office a couple days a week.

“One of the things we’ve heard loud and clear from our colleagues is when they do come into the workplace, they want to have people around them. What we’ve started to see is [individual teams] pick a team day that they’re all in [the office].”

Read: Employers turning to workplace amenities, perks to lure workers back to office

Flexible working, such as hybrid arrangements, is resonating with Canadian employees, according to a recent survey by AmEx Canada. The survey, which polled more than 1,400 workers, found 90 per cent said having flexibility at their job is more important than ever before and more than three-quarters (78 per cent) said they’d turn down a job that didn’t offer flexible work.

In addition, 87 per cent said flexible work has increased their productivity levels and has allowed them to save money, while 70 per cent said flexible work has made them more ambitious in their career.

“The [coronavirus] pandemic has catapulted us forward with respect to flexibility in the workplace,” says Kingsley. “Flexibility means different things to different people. What we’ve found is that when we are looking at some of the younger generation coming on board, the pandemic has also taught them what they don’t want from employees — and they don’t want rigidity [in the their working arrangements].”

Read: Employers using flexibility, perks to ease return to workplace