Help Wanted: Free Gas Included

Nothing beats an economic crisis to stir the creative juices of the masses, and the continued spike in gas prices is no exception.  Each day we turn on the news to a deluge of reports on how organizations are luring clients with the promise of free gas.  (My favorite was a reference to a brothel in Nevada offering free gas cards to all customers.  Too bad they’re not including penicillin…)

Workforces are no exception.  This Thursday, the Houston Independent School District (HISD) will vote on a measure that would offer its lowest paid employees a one-time $250 bonus for gas.  Over 10,000 employees would be eligible, nearly one-third of the district’s workforce.  However, there was no mention of the tax consequences of the bonus, which could effectively trim 15-25% off the cash value.  

And employers continue to jump on the free gas bandwagon, ranging from Indian Tribes and nutritional supplement firms to those asking employees to turn their cars into rolling billboards.  What I like even better are benefits that reward employees for cutting their emissions, such as Clif Bar’s program that pays up to $1,000 for energy efficient appliances at your home and using bicycles to commute to work.

These offers can be great and some are innovative, but what we have yet to see is the “Moon Shot” equivalent of fundamentally changing the way in which we work and commute.  This requires a new paradigm of thinking, which we will discuss tomorrow.

Let’s keep the conversation going.