Google’s cost-cutting measures: ‘Mandatory’ Chromebooks, no staplers, delayed laptop replacements – Times of India

‘Delayed’ laptop replacements, no staplers, fitness classes

Porat, in her email, said that Google set “a high bar for industry-leading perks, benefits and office amenities, and will continue that into the future.” But some changes are in order. “As well as helping to bring down costs, these changes will reduce food waste and be better for the environment,” she said.
As per the report by CNBC, Google is not giving staplers and tapes at the print stations as “part of a cost effectiveness initiative.” Further, employees will need approval from a director if they want to purchase any accessory that costs more than $1,000.
Also, employees that aren’t in engineering roles will by default receive a Chromebook. Google used to offer Apple MacBooks to employees earlier.
The company also told employees that a lot of on-site perks and benefits were offered — and were being fully utilised — as everyone came in five days a week. Now, Google has a more flexible approach where employees are supposed to come in three days a week or less.
According to the report, Google shared an internal document where it said that a lot of services were being underutilised. Google said that it had “baked too many muffins on a Monday, seen GBuses run with just one passenger, and offered yoga classes on a Friday afternoon when folks are more likely to be working from home.”
Previous reports have also suggested that in certain locations and officers, Google had asked employees to share desks.