30 Things People Got After Working For A Company For Ten Years, From Grand To Plain Sad
Working for the same company for ten years must require patience and dedication, both of which, hopefully, should be acknowledged. And in some companies, they are; some employers make sure to let their long-term employees know that they are valued and appreciated, especially after hitting a mark as significant as a decade.
However, not all of them have the same understanding of what the token of appreciation should be; that’s why in some companies, an employee might get a pen, while in others, a cruise trip. These are just a couple of examples of what members of the ‘Ask Reddit’ community have received after spending a decade at their workplaces. Shared in a thread started by u/miami72fins, their answers covered all sorts of gifts from great to terrible, all of which you can find on the list below.
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A trip for 2 anywhere in the world (reimbursed up to $7500). My Wife & I did a 17 day trans-atlantic cruise from Florida to Europe for less than $2000 out-of-pocket.
Almost 9 years here. My company gave me a six figure stock bonus (vests over 4 years). I will likely stay here as a result.
If companies reward employees, meaningfully, then employees are more loyal and willing to work hard.
I work at a midsize HVAC company (about 250 employees), got a signed hockey stick by the whole team and some really good tickets for a game. My boss knows I'm a big hockey fan so it was pretty sweet to get.
Aside from that, they've generally been good to me over the years and it's the reason I've stuck around so long.
Edit: Well that's a lot more responses than I expected. For those who asked, it's the Hurricanes and I work in Service.
I took a voluntary separation and got 10 months of pay on my 10th anniversary. Best choice I have ever made. Found a new job with a 15% raise that started a few weeks later.
At Starbucks, at 10 years you get an extra couple of shares of stock, an award, and you are eligible for one year off with no loss of stature when you come back(it’s called a coffee break) and, if you are over 55, been with them for over ten years and then retire, you get a pound of coffee a week and 30% off for the rest of your life.
A tie clip. I am a woman.
I've received lapel pins for each "benchmark" anniversary for every company I've worked for. The only difference is the color of the fake "gem" signifying the anniversary year.
Not a goddamn thing.
You think a company that gave raises of 4¢ (yes, that's correct. 4 American cents) gives a s**t about you working there for 10 years?
One coworker got a 1¢ raise. He complained, and they fired him.
F**k LKQ.
I feel that. :( My factory 'generously' gave us all a .35 cent raise to help with inflation during covid lockdown. I tell ya, all the extra groceries we all were able to get with that .35 cent raise was beyond description. We all had Waigu beef every night at our homes, even were able to take 3 month long vacations on it. I mean we already make between $13.55 and $15.81 an hour so yeah. That 35 cents absolutely sent us all into the next tax bracket. One guy even bought a Lamborghini - but sadly it had to be last years model. He was 70 cents shy of being able to afford the current years model. :( But he DID have it painted a lovely deep blurple, so that was cool. I went out and tossed all my clothing I've had since the mid 90s and filled an entire walk in closet with extreme high end womans designer clothing and shoes. Our owners generosity with the inflation wage totally changed our lives 1000000000 fold! We all have yachts now. It's nice.
I remember working in a fast food joint (think, very large global chain). I started in '96 and in '08 I got my reward for ten years service.
It was a pen and pencil.
Yup.
The generosity and appreciation they showed for your commitment, the hours you worked, the constant bs that most customers bring, putting up with the grease, spills, rushes that don't seem to end, and having your hair, clothing and home smell like Greasy Food, is just overwhelming /s. I'm fairly sure that pencil is the kind that doesn't sharpen correctly so it gets cracked and part of it falls off in a sharp angle, and the lead just snaps off with a single letter written. "Only the very best for our hard working, loyal and long time wage slaves! <3" Ugh, I would have walked eons ago. Get the training as a shift manager or even assistant then leave and climb higher at a different and better paying job with less stress and no greasy skin and the wonderful 'essence of work-grease' taking over your home. Down with uniforms and name tags and visors! (I know op left 16 years ago, but maybe others in that situation currently will see my words and flee. FLEE, YOU SAINTLY WORKERS! <3
I got to pick an item - fancy steak knives I actually really like and a $250 gift card to my favourite bike shop
See, that's a nice gift! Hopefully they last a lifetime, retain their blades and help you be the best chef possible :)
Either a $2000 TAGheuer watch or $2000 worth of travel credit. (Took the travel)
Right on! That's THE best choice because not many CAN travel, and to be able to do so really opens ones eyes and mind and outlook to more things in life - and in ones self - that they'd never do if they were 'land locked' to their motherland.
A paper saying they planted a tree in another province that I will never see.
10 years was too long ago to remember. For 30 years, I received an "AI-personalized" video of my career, in practice a 60.000-sharp seconds video glorifying the company, where the first two seconds were "[insert name here], remember what we did together".
In other words, a level of b******t well beyond a diarrhea epidemic in any large herd.
Love the BS remark. Just sounds like the company doesn’t know the difference of cleaver or clever, I usually say. I live on a ranch so I know the difference between horse puckie and bull puckie. (I once left a meeting singing … It’s beginning to smell a lot like horse ****, everywhere I turn. … and handed in my two weeks vacation leave followed by two weeks notice)
I got $1000x yrs of service every year at my last job I lasted a little over 15 yrs.
I bounce around too much for my jobs so I asked my mom who was in finance from the late 80s on.
Her 10 year anniversary was a cell phone and a week-long trip to Italy. She also got a stipend in the form of traveler’s checks.
Her 20th was done as a group of other 20 years where they were flown out to dinner at the CEOs house and then a vacation.
Her 30th was a selection of vacations but she opted for the cash bonus.
Today, I’m pretty sure most anniversaries would be forgotten and it would be a normal day for a lot of workers. They don’t really do “big” stuff anymore.
According to many on here, they get penny raises, or a ceo handshake. Lifelong stupid Starbucks coffee. Small petite gift cards.... probably to a place they'd never shop at.... and a tie holder thingie for the female worker. /swoons in jealousy/
I got 500 Pounds, 2 extra days holiday ( I now have 37) and dinner for my spouse and I.
At 20 years you get a another month's wages and dinner for up to 20 people.
A cheap pin along with my continued employment.
A previous job gave me a nice mantel clock at 5 years. That clock is now almost 30 years old and still works great.
Fortune 75. Letter, actual pen/paper, thanking me for my 10 years, extra week of vacation, monetary award, and an anniversary gift chosen from a catalog ($300 bakeware set).
The 20 year was even better; all the above but grabbed a lever action rifle instead of bakeware.
Rifle sounds cool. Was it a good brand, I hope? No sarcasm and snark here. I hate guns but I sure can appreciate a good rifle as a 'thank you' gift, esp if the worker is into hunting or target shooting.
I hit 25 years recently. I got some headphones that I picked out of a catalog and a thank you card where a bunch of people misspelled my name.
23 years this year they gave those with 20 years service a free breakfast! Those who were off that day got nothing…
Very large Fortune 100 company - I got to make a selection from a rewards catalog site and got $$ for a celebration dinner. I chose a tent and two sleeping bags. At 15 years, I chose a mountain bike. Never got my celebration money. Just hit my 20 year. I chose a large $400 LeCreuset Dutch oven this time and I have $200 to spend on a celebration dinner with my team or with my family and friends. I’m taking just my friends out for a nice dinner this Friday at our local Japanese steakhouse and slapping the corporate card down.
I'm an older guy, so hitting the 10-year mark made me eligible for retiree health insurance.
And I think they still have that, though they've unfortunately discontinued the defined-benefit pension for new employees.
That, imo, is the WORST thing all employers ever did to the collective workers (at least in the USA). Getting rid of pensions and filling the void with stupid 401k's. I mean those are /nice/ but at least with a pension it's not going to risk being eaten by stock crashes and stuff.
The concrete thing is an extra week of paid vacation. You started with two weeks when hired, then you got 1 week at 3 years, 1 week at 5 years and 1 week at 10 years. Also a big congrats and recognition company wide email from the company and a little plaque.
At least that's progress but starting with only 2 weeks is downright criminal!
In the past, we used to get to pick from a catalog of company branded stuff. I think 10 years would have gotten you something valued at approx $1,000. I was in our India office one time when they were celebrating work anniversaries and the people who hit 10 years were given a gold coin with the company logo. Waaaaaay cooler than what we got in the US but my understanding is that gold is highly integrated into the culture.
Besides that, you would also be eligible for a longevity bonus that would be paid annually alongside your standard bonus. Depending on tenure, it would be between 5-15% of your annual. Finally, at 10 years you would also be eligible for a 1 month sabbatical. Basically get a month off paid for you to do something productive other than work.
None of these programs exist anymore. They were all phased out over time. Now, I believe you get a congratulatory email with a certificate of appreciation you can print.
But only in B&W. No colour/ color printer access for you until 50 year service.
17 years with a government company and I got a ham sandwich and a paper certificate to thank me for my years of service.
I don’t eat ham.
29 years with a State of Alaska institution. 5 yrs - lapel pin. 10 yrs - blue mug. 15 yrs - I chose a framed art of dried wildflowers (still beautiful! locally made!). 25 yrs - chunky blue glass swirl with my name & 25 yrs ago on a metal plate. 28 years in, my department gave each employee and student a lapel pin; hadn't received a logo pen or a certificate previously. The institution, the department-- those did not appreciate employees. But my supervisor -- she did. I worked with and for her, not them. I appreciated her tremendously, also.
A gold ring. At 15 years, they put a diamond in it, and at 20 years get a gold watch.
At ten years full time, got a third week of vacation. At twenty I'll get a fourth week.
My stepdad worked for Aetna insurance over 20 years and was given a $5 Starbucks card.
A substantial bonus check and more PTO. Also a raise shortly thereafter but that was part of the annual performance review rather than explicitly related to an anniversary.
I got to choose from a few items, all of which we adorned with the company logo, two small rubies and a small diamond. I picked the pocket knife.
Note: this post originally had 37 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
I hit my 10 year anniversary in August. From the company, I got a cash bonus of $10K before taxes, an employer contribution of $25K into my 401K, another 40 hours of PTO each year (I am up to 35 days per year), and I was called down to the Yard of Bricks at the beginning of a race by our CEO, given an engraved Tag Heuer watch (the official timekeeper of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway), and I got to wave the green flag to start the race. From my direct boss I got a fancy dinner for my partner and I and tickets to an art exhibit that I really wanted to go to.
It's amazing how dumb some companies are. Not only is some sort of (non patronising) gift a fair reward for good work and loyalty, it also ensures continued loyalty, increases morale and thereby productivity and if done right, the effect will also spill over to other employees. It isn't even about what the gift is, it's about making someone who spends a huge amount of their life working for you feel they're appreciated for doing so.
My retirement from my last job coincided with my 25th anniversary of working at the school. Each year there was a ceremony where they awarded token acknowledgements for certain years of service - 10,15, 20, etc. When the central office wrote me to invite me to the ceremony, I replied that I couldn't come that day and asked that they mail me whatever they were giving me. It's been nine years, and it still hasn't arrived. I have a little space on a shelf that stands empty waiting for it. I look at that space whenever I ask myself if I miss working there.
I also did 25 years at a school/university. I got a folding camp chair for 25 years of service and can never escape the emails and snail mails inviting me to join the alumni association for a sizeable annual charge.
Load More Replies... I hit my 10 year anniversary in August. From the company, I got a cash bonus of $10K before taxes, an employer contribution of $25K into my 401K, another 40 hours of PTO each year (I am up to 35 days per year), and I was called down to the Yard of Bricks at the beginning of a race by our CEO, given an engraved Tag Heuer watch (the official timekeeper of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway), and I got to wave the green flag to start the race. From my direct boss I got a fancy dinner for my partner and I and tickets to an art exhibit that I really wanted to go to.
It's amazing how dumb some companies are. Not only is some sort of (non patronising) gift a fair reward for good work and loyalty, it also ensures continued loyalty, increases morale and thereby productivity and if done right, the effect will also spill over to other employees. It isn't even about what the gift is, it's about making someone who spends a huge amount of their life working for you feel they're appreciated for doing so.
My retirement from my last job coincided with my 25th anniversary of working at the school. Each year there was a ceremony where they awarded token acknowledgements for certain years of service - 10,15, 20, etc. When the central office wrote me to invite me to the ceremony, I replied that I couldn't come that day and asked that they mail me whatever they were giving me. It's been nine years, and it still hasn't arrived. I have a little space on a shelf that stands empty waiting for it. I look at that space whenever I ask myself if I miss working there.
I also did 25 years at a school/university. I got a folding camp chair for 25 years of service and can never escape the emails and snail mails inviting me to join the alumni association for a sizeable annual charge.
Load More Replies...