Times were good: Seagate spent US$9000 per employee for teambuilding challenge

Each year, Seagate Technology spends $2 million for 200 employees to spend a week hiking, kayaking, and adventure racing in the mountains of New Zealand. Is it worth it?

Seagate Technology, a hardware storage company, uses its multibillion dollar profits for an outrageous company outing every year.  Eco Seagate, the annual company teambuilding challenge in New Zealand, comes at a hefty price tag of $9,000 per person, totaling a whopping $2 million for the entire week.

Over 2,000 of the 55,000 worldwide Seagate employees apply for the trip, but only 200 are chosen.  Some employees have been working for months to prepare for the challenge; one employee has even lost forty pounds, according to a CNN Fortune article.  This week-long teambuilding outing includes a 17-kilometer trek through the bog, 18-kilometer bike ride through mountain terrain, traversing 5-kilometer in a kayak, rappelling down cliffs, and more.

The last day of the challenge combines these adventurous activities into one 40-kilometer race.  Teams are comprised of employees from around the world who have never met and are expected to work together to finish the eco challenge.   The prizes? The winning team receives a large jade trophy, along with exceptional bragging rights.

All 200 Eco Seagate participants learn a lifelong lesson about the importance of teamwork, CEO Bill Watkins’s central message.  By showing his employees the value of teamwork outside of the office, they rely on it back at Seagate.

Read More: Eco Seagate Teambuilding challenge

Related posts:

1. Seagate Technology to lay off 2,000 employees in Singapore
2. Seagate to pull out of Singapore? and enlarge production in china

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