Best Places to Work 2020: LinkedIn Creative Studio
It probably comes as no surprise that LinkedIn, a company that helps forge professional connections, would foster a robust community within its own walls. LinkedIn’s San Francisco-based Creative Studio does just that with a plethora of benefits and programs designed to help employees flourish, earning it the No. 4 rank in Ad Age's Best Places to Work list in the up to 200-employee category.
“LinkedIn is in the business of helping everyone be more successful at work. And when we say everyone, that includes the people who work here. So as a team, we’re genuinely vested in each other’s success and well-being,” says Kevin Frank, executive creative director of LinkedIn’s in-house agency, which employs 26 within the company’s 15,000-plus person global network. “We look out for each other. We support each other. And perhaps most importantly, we like each other.”
LinkedIn Creative Studio staffers enjoy work-from-home options, unlimited paid time off, maternity and paternity leave, child-care reimbursement and adoption assistance. Sunnyvale, California-based LinkedIn also runs a program called Family First, which guarantees job-protected leave even if the employee has not been with the company long enough to meet state or federal length of service requirements. In addition, staffers get a stock purchase plan in parent Microsoft Corp., a 401(k) match and 100 percent paid employee insurance premiums. And then there are on-site perks such as dental services, a car wash, dry cleaning and oil changes.
LinkedIn Employee Resource Groups focus on career development and contribute to the betterment of employees in the areas of inclusion, leadership and retention—both within and outside the company. The company’s Black Inclusion Group, for example, “uses LinkedIn’s data, resources, and employees to close the gap for black people in the technology industry,” the company says. Other ERGs focus on the disabled, the Latino, Asian and LGBTQ communities, veterans and women. Once a month, employees are given a day, dubbed InVestment Day, to give back to their communities.
“We’re a creative agency, so creativity is at the core of our culture,” says Frank. “But beyond making thoughtfully crafted communication or winning awards, we know that our work can actually make a difference in people’s professional lives. It’s that belief in and commitment to the company’s mission that makes our culture so special.”
