While other tech giants, namely Google, provide their employees with plenty of notable perks, Apple has been known to skimp on simple things such as free lunches… seemingly believing that employees are simply grateful for being able to work on the company’s iconic products. Tim Cook is looking to change Apple’s philosophy on corporate benefits and other employee perks.

One new initiative that has come to light is the “Blue Sky” program wherein Apple employees are given paid time to work on projects of their choosing; certain employes (it isn’t clear exactly who qualifies) can spend up to  one fifth of their work time working on their own personal projects. This is being compared to Google’s 20 percent initiative (for obvious reasons) and appears to be aimed at improving employee mood and foster an environment of innovation that will ultimately benefit the company. It isn’t clear, however, who owns the rights to the work product of employees who participate in the project. If I were to take a stab at it, my guess is Apple owns the rights to anything and everything developed by its employees via Blue Sky; however, I don’t know this for sure.

While not having special perks for employees might have worked for Apple in the past, there’s no arguing that better treatment of your employees can only be good for your company, and this is clearly the approach that Tim Cook is taking with Apple moving forward.

[via Ars Technica]