For this assignment, I interviewed a couple of my close friends to ask them about their job benefits and which ones they felt were most important for them.

Ana, Flight Attendant with JetBlue Airlines

Yaritza: What benefits does your job offer you?
Ana: My job offers me free flying on domestic flights, buddy passes, only paying taxes on international flights, health insurance, PTO and of course, getting to see different cities, states, and countries.
Y: Which benefits mean the most to you and why?
A: The benefit that means the most to me is getting to explore new places because it opens my mind and allows me to do new things.
Y: Can you describe an experience that opened your mind?
A: Once I stayed in San Francisco near the water. I jogged on the beach and that is something I do not get to do at home in New York. Another time I stayed in Puerto Rico and got to visit the beach very often which helped me feel at peace.
Y: What new things were you allowed to do?
A: I got to taste foods from different cultures. I liked mofongo from Dominican Republic and coconuts from Puerto Rico. I loved drinking the coconut water and then eating the coconut. Tacos taste better in Mexico and in Thailand, I tried fried rice with a fried egg on top. I also had a huge, steamed fish in Colombia by the beach which was delicious.

Amarelis, Research Assistant with Columbia University

Yaritza: What benefits does your job offer you?
Amarelis: My job offers me health and dental insurance, a 401K, life insurance, classes at Colombia with tuition reimbursement, PTO, free COVID testing, personal days off, sick leave, paid time off when serving jury duty, and vacation days. My job offers more benefits, but these are the only ones I qualify for because I don’t have kids.
Y: So, if you did have children, what benefits would they offer?
A: I think they offer health insurance for dependents, maternity leave, money for childcare, and help with college funds for my dependents but I’m not too sure on the specifics because I don’t have children. The benefits I named are just something along those lines.
Y: Which benefits mean the most to you and why?
A: Health and dental are most important to me because I can try different providers and clinics. I think it’s cool to have life insurance because I never had it before and very grateful to have been offered it. But the biggest benefit so far has been the free COVID vaccine because of school affiliation. I was the first in my family to get vaccinated and when they all got COVID I was able to take care of them knowing I had some kind of protection.

What is interesting about these answers is that none of my friends mentioned their compensation as a job benefit. This led to my conclusion that pay is not the most important aspect of a job. The most important aspect is the benefit of a better way of life. Whether it is the ability to travel to new cities for free, the opportunity to have life insurance or the protection against COVID, all these have one thing in common. They would not have been possible without the benefits of their place of employment.