PerkSpot

Despite a slumping economy, PerkSpot is growing and preparing for some exciting changes. We are hiring two Marketing & Customer Service Coordinators to help take PerkSpot to the next level. In 2009, we will evolve our existing employee discount programs to help human resources departments and other organizations save their employees and members more money than ever before. It’s an exciting time to join our team and we are looking for the best and the brightest. Check out the current job postings on our Job Opportunities page and send an email to hr [at] perkspot [dot] com if interested.

According to a recent Gallup Poll, Americans’ frequent use of the Internet has almost doubled over the last five years; 48% now report using the Internet more than one hour per day compared to 26% in 2002.  While the most educated, most affluent, and youngest Americans are those more likely to use the Internet more than one hour per day, the less affluent, non-working, and unmarried are increasing their usage at noteworthy rates.

This widespread increase in Internet usage presents an opportunity for human resources administrators to make their employee discount program more accessible and beneficial to employees.  Rather than hosting a list of discounts on the corporate intranet, HR administrators should consider offering their employees the chance to shop and save from the convenience of their home computer.  With the Internet still in its infancy according to most technology experts, it is reasonable to anticipate continued growth in Internet use in the years to come.

An article written today by MediaPost.com offers the surprising results from two surveys of Baby Boomers.  The article serves to dispel the common perception that Baby Boomers have fallen far behind younger generations in both their desire to use and competence with technology:

Boomer consumers ages 50 and older are as likely to own — or plan to purchase — a HDTV, as those ages 49 and younger. And 80% of 60-somethings used a cell phone in the past week — a rate nearly similar to those ages 18 to 34. About 71% of 60-somethings and 52% of 70-somethings used a search engine in the past week, compared with 77% of those ages 18-34.

Many companies are reluctant to upgrade the technology they use to publish information about employee benefits for fear that their older employees would not be savvy enough to use it.  This article suggests that Baby Boomers are more than capable of understanding and utilizing today’s technology.  Maybe it is time for human resources departments to consider administering their employee discount program through an easy-to-use, efficient, and customizable discount website.

PerkSpot was recently highlighted in Entrepreneur.com’s article ‘Employee Benefits in Today’s Economy’. To summarize, we have seen various corporations and organizations implement our employee discount programs and other voluntary benefits solutions in order to accomplish a variety of objectives: offset cuts in other benefits, offer world-class perks and extras to employees, save employees money, save company time and money, and the list goes on. As a partner for human resources and an advocate for saving employee dollars, implementing the PerkSpot solution for your employees could be the best way to kick off 2009.