Google to cut down free snacks, laundry services, other perks to save money: Report

Google's Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat sent a memo to Google employees on Friday outlining the elimination or reduction of several perks, including some of the company’s micro kitchens that provide employees with free snacks like cereal, espresso, and seltzer water. According to the memo, the company will also no longer allocate funds towards purchasing personal devices like laptops.

Thanks to the benefits that Google provides to its staff, it regularly ranks as one of the finest workplaces. But the cost of these benefits has grown significantly for the business. Google has therefore made the decision to reduce some of its excessive costs. A number of Google's company-wide benefits, including complimentary snacks from mini kitchens, laundry services, massages, and corporate lunches, are reportedly going to be scaled back or eliminated. In order to reduce expenses, Google will also delay employment decisions.

According to a Business Insider report, Google's Chief Financial Officer, Ruth Porat, stated that the business must utilise the funds effectively in order to concentrate on work that is of a higher importance. Insider gained access to a memo that Porat sent to Google workers on Friday and in which he stated that the company would slow down on recruiting and reallocate teams to work on higher-priority projects.

The business will stop investing in personal technology like laptops, according to the letter. Porat added that the adjustments to the benefits would depend on the requirements of each workplace site and the patterns observed there.

In regard to usage patterns, Google is considering closing the micro kitchen on days with reduced activity and adjusting the times of some exercise classes. The company claims the benefit cutbacks are to generate savings to support other improvements, like machine usage, even though for Google workers they may seem like a major shift.

Sundar Pichai, the company's CEO, announced earlier this year that Google would reduce its workforce by about 6%, or about 12,000 workers, in order to focus its talent and resources on its top objectives, including artificial intelligence.