As if on cue from Google, a company with such a widely-praised employee bus service, the New York Times wrote a beaming article about it in March, Microsoft announced Sept. 7 that it would be launching a free express bus service for employees to and from its Redmond headquarters later this month.

The Wi-Fi enabled buses will have five scheduled pickup times in the morning and five drop-offs in the evening in the Seattle, Bothell, Mill Creek, Issaquah and Sammamish neighborhoods. The buses will accommodate up to 1,000 employees daily.

Of course, Microsoft still has a ways to go before it garners the gushed-over quirky reputation of Google, with its free chef-prepared food at all hours of the day, climbing walls, on-site car washes and oil changes, haircuts and mobile conference rooms.

But it makes no bones about whether it hopes this perk will enhance its future recruiting efforts.

"It's the kind of investment that we think our employees and prospective future employees are likely to appreciate," Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel and top regional transportation spokesman, told The Seattle Times.

No word yet on whether there will be free a shuttle service to the Vancouver outpost opening this fall.