After laying off 12,000 people, Google cuts down employee perks-stationery, laptops, massages

New York: Seems like The good days for google employee are over as the company in its most recent cost cutting plan, has decided to discontinue major employee services such as onsite massage, fitness classes, laptop replacements, cafes, transport services even stationery items like staplers. Google’s head of finance, Ruth Porat, wrote a rare email on Monday to the entire workforce outlining how the tech giant is implementing those measures to lower costs. The email also outlined the company’s goal for 2023 which is to deliver long-lasting savings through increased velocity and effectiveness, according to the reports. Porat went into depth about how Google is reducing the number of laptop replacements for its employees while also decreasing the frequency of things like fitness classes for employees and office essentials like staplers and tape. The cost-cutting measures come as Alphabet-owned Google goes through its most severe period of cost cuts in its nearly two decades as a public business. In January, the company had announced that it would be eliminating 12,000 positions, or about 6% of its workforce, in order to deal with sluggish sales growth after experiencing record headcount growth. Google has also refused to pay for the remaining maternity and sick benefits of those who have been laid off. The layoffs were “the hardest decisions we’ve had to make as a company,” Porat wrote in her email. She pointed out that recent growth, a difficult economic climate, and the need for investment opportunities to advance technology, especially in AI, made cost-cutting measures essential. In her email, Porat made two references to 2008 and noted that Google had previously experienced a situation where its expenditures were outpacing its income. The company was forced to take action at that time to increase machine utilization, reduce real estate investments, tighten budgets, close cafes, and reduce mobile phone usage. The head of finance mentioned that Google would now be examining different data in order to find additional areas of spending that might be reduced. As part of the cost cutting measures, Google may close its internal cafes on Mondays and Fridays along with other facilities because more workers are working from home up to two days a week. The business will scale back its food, exercise, massage, and transportation initiatives, all of which were implemented when employees were visiting offices five days per week. Google and other California-based tech firms like Amazon and Meta were well-known for having unusual campuses with odd benefits like juice bars and spas for employees. The largest ever round of layoffs at Google resulted in the employment of 27 massage therapists, it was disclosed in January. The masseuses were on-site massage therapists who gave treatments to the employees as incentives for good performance. Tech companies have been particularly hard hit by layoffs as a result of overhiring during the pandemic’s shift online. Amazon and Google parent Alphabet increased employment during the pandemic, joining other tech firms like Facebook parent Meta and Google parent Alphabet in order to meet the demand from housebound Americans who were increasingly purchasing goods online to protect themselves from the virus. Due to recruiting binges sparked by the pandemic, many tech behemoths, including Salesforce Inc. and PayPal, have eliminated thousands of positions in recent months.