This is part of a series that dives into my years at Roblox. Quick link back to the main post here, where it has links to all the topics I have discussed so far.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in my blog posts are opinions of my own and does not reflect any views/opinions/positions of Roblox.
Undoubtably, the amount of swag (“free stuff”) and the quality of these swag took a dive. Swag are a bonus when it comes to compensation. In fact, swag exist for the sole purpose of employee morale. So, swag that were passed out to us as employees helps us feel more valued.
What has been consistent are T-shirts. Every tech company passes out T-shirts. I loved them since more company tees I have, the less I need to think about what to wear to work. T-shirts when I first started were premium ones. The material survive washes – both the cotton blend and the print. The designs were well thought out. On top of that they are comfortable to wear. However, as time passed, the quality of these shirts dramatically declined. One clear example, the free swag shirt from our internal engineering event was one that could use some more….quality. Originally a black T-shirt with screen printed letters. It is now lost its original color and developed a grey sheen. The lettering? Cracked and worn out. It’s not a shirt you want to wear out… Verses the original T-shirt from my on-boarding package? That one looks almost like the day I got it.
What about other swag outside of T-shirts you might ask. Quality of that has also gone down hill. We used to get mugs every now and then. Now? maybe a non-branded water bottle. (Maybe other than the LARQ bottle we got in the last year… we have to pay for our own filters though). In the years past, we would show up to an all-hands and Timbuk2 backpacks are passed out. When we asked what was the occasion; we were told no reason other than wanting to make us proud for working with the company! We were genuinely happy and grateful. Another occasion maybe Christmas, we used to get Christmas gifts from the company. They were nice too. One year we got a Patagonia jacket (yea which tech company hasn’t passed one lol), and another we got an Arc’teryx zip up. In the recent years, Christmas gifts have been nonexistence. This transition took place sometime during the pandemic (which coincidently is the time the company went public). During the pandemic, company would send us “party boxes” instead of Christmas gifts where we could celebrate as a group on Zoom. But since the RTO, we no longer get boxes or gifts.
But hey, these are swag right? Free stuff to make us feel like we are valued. Honestly, if a new employee joined, the swag level nowadays are still above industry level! But swag at all tech companies has been cut back quite a bit. So I am grateful for every single free thing that the company has given us. On the other hand, waiting witnessed the gradual decline of both surprise swag and cut back on holiday gifts. I was a bit disappointed that the company decided to cut back on this perk.