Westborough's Chitika Lures Tech Talent With Perks
COURTESY
A Chitika employee at one of the company's new treadmill workstations.
Call it the Google of MetroWest.
Not only is Westborough-based Chitika Inc. thriving in the world of Internet advertising, but its employee perks are starting to catch up to the Silicon Valley search giant, which is famous for its on-site gyms, barbershops, gaming rooms and other worker amenities.
Chitika recently opened a 5,000-square-foot "performance zone" at its West Park Drive headquarters.
It has treadmill workstations, Ping-Pong, a kitchen stocked with healthy food, basketball, air hockey, hammocks and other activities for employees. The company also started offering daily catered lunches, free EZ Passes for the Mass Turnpike, monthly vehicle stipends and free laundry and dry cleaning twice a week.
If those kinds of perks make you want to work at Chitika, that's the point, said Venkat Kolluri, the ad network and data analytics firm's CEO.
Kolluri hopes to double his 50 employees over the next 12 months to respond to increasing business. Though he would not share specific figures, Kolluri said mobile ad spending is driving business in a big way for Chitika, which has doubled in size several times since 2003.
"I want to give the workforce an opportunity where they can not worry about all of the daily nuisances and be able to focus on work and be able to bring to the table their A-game," he said.
Kolluri said the new employee perks will help keep his current employees healthier and happier, which he thinks will boost efficiency and maybe even lower health care costs.
But he hopes the perks will also act as a lure for tech industry talent at a time when Kolluri needs it.
"The workers that are coming to the table are all the high-tech folks, coming with fire in their bellies," he said. "For them, the work environment is a part of their life. They want to have fun. They want to do exciting stuff."
On The Move
For a 9-year-old company, Chitika has already moved three times. And there was almost a fourth. With the impending additions to his staff in mind, Kolluri said he shopped various locations recently, including Cambridge's Innovation District, where many other tech companies reside.
But he wasn't excited when he saw what little space he could get for such a big price.
"Do we want to invest the money in the office space or should we invest it in the people and resources?" he asked.
Kolluri chose the latter, signing an expanded lease in Westborough that includes adjacent office space, allowing him to open the performance zone and provide more space for his employees.
The price is right, and Kolluri said he hasn't yet had any problems finding tech talent in the area.
He knows it's a bit unusual for a company to offer free lunches and other amenities to employees, but he thinks more employers should do it.
"I keep hearing stories about larger corporations lobbying to reduce health care costs," Kolluri said. "From my perspective, why would I go to Washington, D.C., to fight the battle? Why not take a grassroots approach?"
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