The CEO of San Diego staffing company TCWGlobal knew he wanted workers back in the office. So, he set out to make the best office he could.
He might have gone overboard.
Workers at TCWGlobal in Kearny Mesa have access to massage chairs, free food, a champagne vending machine for special occasions, a gym and showers, designer bathrooms and dozens of perks that most office workers will never experience in their lives.
CEO Samer Khouli said it was important to him that workers were in the office with the chance to collaborate and innovate together. He knew very well, considering he’s in the staffing business, that workers wanted to stay remote after the pandemic, which prompted him to design much of the new office himself.
“I think people are designed for community,” he said during a recent tour.
TCWGlobal’s 148 workers have been back full-time in the office for a year now in a new 70,000-square-foot building. Despite the preference among most workers for remote work, the staffing and payroll agency got high marks in The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Top Workplaces, which bases its rankings on worker interviews and submitted comments.
Employees in surveys, and in person, said they like working at the staffing agency because they feel empowered to express opinions to leadership, feel challenged, like their co-workers and have many charity opportunities.
Of course, no matter how great you make an office, that still doesn’t beat working from home in your pajamas for much of the workforce. What probably helps TCW is a lot of workers say they are the type that need social interaction every day.
Alex Olivas, 36, director of staffing, said he was one of those workers who struggled being remote. He said he felt it was affecting his social skills and was eager to get back around people. It also helped that he likes his employer of five years.
“I come from a corporate background. This is not that corporate, stuffy environment,” Olivas said. “You feel taken care of, instead of a company just telling everyone they take care of employees.”
Katelyn Alatorre, 23, a global operations training lead, who has worked at the company for more than four years, said she has plenty of friends who work remotely but it’s not for her. She said she would only talk to co-workers if she had to when remote, limiting her chance to collaborate and run into people she hadn’t met.
The company is largely known locally for its charity efforts. Workers at TCWGlobal get paid their normal wage for 16 hours of volunteer time. To encourage charitable work, if an employee gets up to 16 hours, they get a paid day off. The company will also match, up to $5,000 annually, any donation an employee makes to a nonprofit.
“I’ve never seen a company just give 16 hours for volunteering,” Alatorre said.
TCW
TCWGlobal probably wouldn’t be able to have such a cool office if it was just 148 employees in San Diego. Formerly known as TargetCW, the staffing and payroll agency is a huge international operation and is in more than 150 countries. That includes Hungary, Malaysia, Senegal, Sambia, Barbados, China, Egypt and Finland.
The privately held company was formed in 2009 and seems to go a bit under the radar in San Diego considering its global reach. Most articles about the company are about its happy workplace or charitable giving. TCWGlobal has made roughly $700 million a year since 2021.
Because of its size, it is able to offer another big perk: Its own medical plan. It covers up to 82 percent of medical coverage for employees and dependents.
Khouli said he understands staffing and payroll aren’t exactly exciting professions, so it was important for him to create a workplace that was fun and helped create a strong culture. Wearing Louis Vuitton sneakers and accompanied throughout the campus by his 7-year-old boxer, Cooper, Khouli proudly showed off many of the features he designed.
There are walls with LED lights that change color throughout the day; specially designed bathrooms with different themes (space, ocean, Aztec); TV screens that flash announcements and employee birthdays, and HEPA air filters and filtered water throughout. Conference rooms have doors that can switch from opaque to see-through. Besides the rooms with massage chairs, there are showers and toilets with electric bidets in the bathrooms.
The champagne vending machine (probably for the best) can only be turned on by a supervisor. The vending machine is in a room that is decked out with leather furniture, mood lighting and a record player. Nearby are albums by Queen and The Velvet Underground.
Environmentally conscious employees may appreciate the 799 solar s on the roof. There are various fruit trees outside and the company composts food from its weekly five free breakfasts and two free lunches.
If the culture and fancy office aren’t enough for some workers, there are also financial perks that seem to be getting rarer for the rest of the nation’s workforce. TCWGlobal offers a 401(k) plan that allows an annual match of 50 percent of every dollar contributed, up to 3 percent of the total compensation. The company pays up to $4,000 a year for day care and has a 529 college savings plan that workers can use to pay for continuing education or existing student loan debt.
