More Companies Opening Offices to Pets
BOSTON (CBS) - If you walked into the offices at Harpoon Brewery in the Seaport, there's a good chance you could be greeted by Ahab, a one year old golden doodle who quietly wanders among the cubicles.
You might also see Dyson, who loves to sniff around looking for left over lunch crumbs, or Marnie who sits happily underneath a desk.
Dan Kenary is the CEO, and has welcomed dogs to the office since the company bought a small brewery in Vermont where dogs regularly wandered the halls.
"It was just so fun and it didn't hurt productivity at all," he said.
He started encouraging the Boston employees to bring their dogs and he believes it has benefited the dogs, the workers and the office as a whole.
"You just see it have a positive influence across the company. It increases the comfort level," he said.
A recent survey conducted by Massachusetts based Wellness Pet Food, named Harpoon one of the top ten pet-friendly companies in the country.
The study also found that 40 percent of workers would be willing to give up benefits like vacation time to have a pet-friendly work place.
According to Kathleen Murray of Wellness, millennials are particularly drawn by the idea.
"Fifty percent of them would actually consider a career change to work for a pet-friendly company," she said.
There can be challenges if some workers are afraid of dogs. "There's an unwritten code that the dog has to get along in an office setting," Kenary said. "We are not looking for disruptions."
According to both Kenary and Murray, a lot of people want less of a disconnect between work and the rest of their lives.
"It's a natural thing to say well I can leave my dog in my apartment for the rest of the day alone, or I can bring the dog to work. It's better for the dog, it's better for me, better for our coworkers," Kenary said.
