We've begun an advertising campaign that says it's the coolest, highest earning potential career opportunity that anyone could consider. Perhaps nothing could be cooler than walking into an office where employees are relaxing by playing company-sanctioned video games, taking an hour to pump some iron or riding a sliding board from one floor to another. To encourage that, the Allentown, Pa., offices of Air Products house both an indoor and outdoor jogging track, as well as a modern fitness center. Air Products is not the only company transforming the image of the engineer as a 98-pound weakling. Combined with on-site massage, dry cleaning service, organic vegetable delivery, yoga and language classes, the tech professionals at Active Voice are encouraged to socialize, have fun and stay fit.
Most employers say no.
But there is a strong unwritten rule here that says work hard, play hard. There is peer pressure to be professional. There's a time to work and a time to play and people know the difference. The pool table is quiet during key work hours. Game rooms are found on each floor at Chicago's Metamor, too, but Farrar says he doesn't mind activity there during the day.