Quartz at Work: Tech companies are structured like wealthy socialist states

Four weeks ago, I relocated from Los Angeles to a gorgeous one-bedroom apartment in Silicon Valley to begin a summer internship as a user experience researcher. When I saw the stainless-steel appliances, private balcony, and in-unit washer and dryer, I immediately called my parents and told them I had “made it.” This apartment, provided by my new employer, is the nicest I have had in my adult life—so nice that I could not help looking up its price tag. During the academic year, I work as a graduate teaching assistant to make my half of the rent on an apartment I split with my partner. The market value of my corporate housing—around $3800 per month—is several hundred dollars more than I’ve ever earned in a month and almost triple the cost of my rent in LA.

The perks at my job seem endless. Typical of most established Silicon Valley corporations, my employer provides multiple forms of free transportation, excellent healthcare options, a full schedule of daily fitness classes, masseuses on site, heated toilet seats, and meditation rooms. Not to mention the food. Oh, the food! I’ve been able to maintain a vegetarian diet for the first time and have never eaten so well in my life. I have also taken to Instagramming my daily delicious gourmet desserts. My appreciation for the vegan coconut almond allspice hibiscus cake I had on Monday was visceral and revelatory. I did not know life could be this sweet.

Now that my physical and emotional needs are consistently being met, I have more time to spend thinking about ideas rather than survival. My afternoons are spent strategizing how to best use my skills in race, class, and gender research to influence product design, alongside a passionate, productive, and supportive team. Because work-life balance is taken seriously at my job, I relish in the ability to reflect upon my new life after work each day. I sit on my balcony and wonder, am I living in some sort of corporate-sponsored welfare utopia?