Meet Etsy's 'office hackers': 'It's seriously a dream job'

Zhi-Da ZhongEric Beug (left) and Corey Benning (right).

Eric Beug and Corey Benninger get paid to make their coworkers' lives easier and their office a more fun and efficient place to work.

They share the title of "office hacker" at peer-to-peer e-commerce website Etsy, where they work in the engineering department and use technology and creative thinking to make working at Etsy "more effective and inspiring" for employees, says a spokesperson.

"Our job is to improve the physical spaces where Etsy employees work, including our global offices and the overall remote employee experience," says Beug. "Whether it's integrating software and hardware to improve office security or teaching employees how to use a 3D printer, we're reimagining the workplace."

Most recently, Beug and Benninger built a system that weighs and tracks all the waste, recycling, and compost Etsy generates in its offices around the world so the company can track its progress on sustainability. They've also created occupancy sensors for Etsy's conference rooms, made to detect whether or not people are actually using the rooms when they say they are, which helps the company refine how it schedules and uses its meeting spaces.

We recently spoke with Beug and Benninger to find out how they got their jobs and what they really do all day. Here's what they said:

Responses have been edited for clarity.