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Another Extraordinary Day On The Job

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

February 8, 2001 / 11:03 AM EST / CBS

To an outsider there's something extraordinary about an ordinary day at this software firm in Raleigh, N.C.

"The company is very well known for the benefits that we provide," said Carla Kiever, who was in the middle of getting a massage. She is a paralegal at the company, called SAS. The masseuse is provided at discount rates to the employees in a in-house massage room, available during business hours.

"You go back to your office feeling much better," admits Kiever.

SAS is regularly voted one of the best, if not the best, company to work for and it's not just because of the massages. Every employee gets free medical care.

Company Perks

Just some of the amenities that SAS offers their empoyees include: day care, car washing facilities, dry cleaning services, a subsidized cafeteria, a masseuse, playing feilds for frisbee or soccer, a swimming pool, aerobics, a weight room and basketball court.

There's a company pool, next to the company gym, near the Frisbee field and the soccer field not far from the subsidized day care, right next door to the subsidized cafeteria which has a piano player for diners to enjoy.

Philip Teasly's father Doug is a programmer at SAS. He takes his son to work most days and leaves him in the day care center. He pays $250 a month for the service, but it's worth a lot more to him. So much that he's turned down job offers paying $30,000 more per year than he's making now.

"But to me and my wife there are some things more important than money. And I have peace of mind," said Teasly.

Cary Academy

SAS Institute founders, Jim Goodnight and John Sall and their spouses, founded Cary Academy in 1996 in Cary, NC. They created the school so students could have technology available in a traditional school setting. Cary currently enrolls 650 in grades 6 through 12.

Fast facts:
-52 acre, 6 building campus
-Baseball field, soccer/track stadium, weight room, tennis courts, wrestling room
-State of the art labs in science classrooms
-700 networked computers
-Library with more than 11,000 volumes

All this warm and fuzzy treatment pays off in cold, hard cash. A Stanford University business professor studied this place and figures because all the perks keep employee morale high and turnover low. They actually save the company about $75 million a year.

And it's worked.

"I'm never gonna leave SAS, just bury me here. I'm just gonna stay here forever," said one employee.

Providing space for on site car washes or picking up and delivering laundry means the overwhelming majority of SAS's employees stay healthy, stay happy and -- most importantly -- stay.

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