Facebook employee
But hiring smart, hard working people is only part of the battle.
To keep them sticking around, Facebook needs to keep them loving their jobs.
In a careers post meant to get people to apply to Facebook, one of Facebook's "client solutions managers," in Mexico City, known as Andrea A., describes her job and what she likes most about it.
And her favorite part is not the free food, candy shop, healthcare services and so on. It's the freedom to do her job well.
Andrea used vague language to describe exactly what a CSM does. It has something to do with supporting the sales team but doing so for companies that work in specific industries. In Andrea's case, she works with companies in media, entertainment, retail and finance, a broad span of companies.
The main point: this is not a high-profile kind of job at Facebook, not a developer building a feature that will be used by millions, nor an engineer working on some of Facebook's moonshot projects like its solar-powered drone or Internet.org.
She says:
"At Facebook we believe that 'Nothing at Facebook is somebody else's problem' - it's yours," she writes. " I'm tasked with finding creative, innovative and realistic solutions for my clients, even if it has never been done before."
In other words, she feels a sense of empowerment.
In fact, academic research shows that there's a strong correlation between job satisfaction and employee empowerment. People who are given the freedom to solve problems in their own creative ways simply like their jobs and their companies better.
For all of the tech industry's emphasis on fancy perks: catered free gourmet lunches, laundry services, concierge services, bus ride commutes and the like, it turns out one of the best perk is one that any company can offer.