Benefits of The Parking Lottery
- parkinglottery
- Feb 1
- 4 min read
Preamble
This blog is about work. How and where we work, and why the discussion generated by these questions is relevant to the future of work. The world of work is evolving. This blog will provide some history and context, highlight the push and pull between employees and employers, and sample some Return To Office (RTO) policy considerations. It’s important enough to repeat: The world of work is evolving. Correspondingly, this blog will try to keep pace.
Benefits of The Parking Lottery
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on how, and where, many people work. Prior to the pandemic, the vast majority of workers spent 5 days in the office every week. More than four years after the pandemic shut everything down, many companies are instituting RTO policies and mandating that their employees work from an office location at least part of the time. This blog has hopefully shed some light on justifications for RTO. This month’s issue is going to focus on The Parking Lottery and its benefits.
Trends in the workplace
The headlines paint a clear picture:
January 31, 2025: All Dell office staff fully in-office (Ars Technica)
January 21, 2025: Major League Baseball office staff fully in-office (Bloomberg)
January 20, 2025: US Federal workers fully in-office (Reuters)
January 7, 2025: JPMorgan fully in-office (Bloomberg)
December 2024: AT&T fully in-office (Fortune)
October 2024: Dell global sales team fully in-office (Business Insider)
September 2024: Amazon fully in-office (Inc)
June 2024: Washington Post fully in-office (New York Times)
2023 or earlier: Goldman Sachs, X, Tesla fully in-office
And from the KPMG 2024 U.S. CEO Outlook:
79% of U.S. CEOs envision the working environment for corporate employees whose roles were traditionally based in-office to be back in the physical workplace in the next three years – a marked shift from earlier this year (34%)
17% envision these roles to be hybrid (46% earlier this year)
86% say they will reward employees who make an effort to come into the office with favorable assignments, raises or promotions
It appears that the balance of power has shifted towards employers, and companies are pushing for RTO despite non-trivial evidence that trust and choice are better for everyone in the long-term. The rationale for instituting the types of restrictive RTO policies in the above headlines have been covered in previous posts of this blog. There are a number of things that employers can do to ease some of their employees’ frustration of having to be in the office, including vouchers / credits to cover transportation costs and childcare assistance. Any of the above may help defer some of the direct or indirect costs of being in the office, but all are relatively expensive.
Benefits of The Parking Lottery
What is it?
The Parking Lottery is a perk that a company offers its employees. Employees can win a chance to park in a premium parking spot for a period of time.
How does it work?
The employer enrolls in The Parking Lottery. They provide:
The number of premium parking spots up for grabs
The list of eligible employees, aka “Parkers”
The duration of the time (day, week, month) that winners get to park in the premium parking spots
The system draws the lottery at the set frequency (daily, weekly, monthly) and sends a notification to the winning employees. The winning employees get to park in a premium parking spot for the duration.
Why do employers want it?
The Parking Lottery shows appreciation for the company’s employees, and for their time spent in the office. It can act as a differentiator to attract new talent. When every company is mandating their employees to be in the office 5 days a week, the company whose offer provides the opportunity to park in a premium spot is going to stand slightly apart from the competition. And finally, the cost to enroll in The Parking Lottery is much less prohibitive than the cost of other standard benefits.
Why do employees want it?
The Parking Lottery is a perk that addresses one element of the RTO frustration that other benefits don’t address - the frustration of looking for parking when the entire office is coming in.
On a personal note: The author has worked in an environment where he had to circle the parking lot for up to 10 minutes looking for parking. The author has also worked in an environment where his teammates reported having to park in the auxiliary parking lot and take the shuttle bus if arriving after 9am. Both instances were before the pandemic, when remote or flexible work was less prevalent.
By gamifying the parking experience, The Parking Lottery can also act as a tool for camaraderie-building among employees, allowing them to boast about their “rock star parking” for the week.
The Bottom Line
RTO policies are getting more stringent, and companies have a chance to temper those policies with a unique perk.
Up Next
This is the last scheduled blog post for the Parking Lottery. I may revisit as the work landscape changes.
Citations
None
Our Shameless Pitch
Regardless of which work policy your company chooses to implement, The Parking Lottery can help make your employees’ in-office experience more palatable and less frustrating. A more fulfilling in-office experience leads to higher employee retention. It’s also a perk that serves as a differentiator to attract new talent. Contact us for more information.