Employee benefits are also important to the organization in some positive ways. If carefully selected and properly managed, they can be helpful in recruiting and retaining qualified employees. For example, the benefits provided by Hoechst Marion Roussel undoubtedly are a factor in the firm’s success in attracting applicants and in retaining talented employees. In addition, some benefits can reduce costs in other areas. For example, Bechtel Group Inc., found that its commuter vans and other ride-sharing programs at its southern California facility made it unnecessary to build a previously planned $3.5 million parking garage. As another example, some organizations have found that the costs of exercise and fitness programs have been partly offset by reduced health care claims from those employees who work out regularly. Employee benefits are significant in a negative sense because they have grown increasingly expensive, and if a company is not careful, it may “give away the store”. In fact, as a percentage of pay, employee benefits increased faster than basic wages and salaries in most years for several decades. Between 1975 and 1994, employee benefits grew from 30 to 40.7 percent of payroll, but by 1999 they had decreased to 36.8 percent of payroll. In recent years, the managements of some organizations have literally taken back some employee benefits to prevent losses or serious cash-flow problems, thus to some extent slowing down the overall rise in benefits across the nation