It has been a brutal year for employees at tech companies. So far this year, more than 126,000 workers at 465 tech-focused firms have been laid off, according to Layoffs.fiy. And thousands more could be looming.
For workers who remain on the job, it’s going to be tough going, with more responsibilities, less support and more stress. And, as you might expect as jobs disappear, so too do some of the perks that lured workers to those companies initially.
The power pendulum at the office is swinging back towards employers. And with the economically-focused belt tightening, many extras (which some employees view as part of their compensation) are disappearing. The Wall Street Journal has assembled a list of some of the perks that have gone poof.
Here’s a look at what employees at some companies have seen disappear.
Meta
The parent company of Facebook and Instagram has already laid off 13% of its staff and another round of cuts seems to be imminent. Mark Zuckerberg has labeled 2023 as the company’s “Year of Efficiency." Beyond job cuts, that means several other features are now gone or adjusted.
The company’s dinner service time has been pushed back later, and shuttle service has been changed to discourage workers from staying just to get a free meal. To-go containers are also now gone.
Free laundry and dry cleaning services have been done away with.
Salesforce
Beyond 10% of the workforce being shown the door, Salesforce has also eliminated the monthly paid day off it previously offered its workers to focus on their well-being. Also gone? Access to a 75-acre wellness retreat.
Twilio
The company used to give workers an allowance to spend on wellness and books. That’s been eliminated, as well as a program that let workers apply for a month of paid sabbatical every three years following the company’s dismissal of 1,500 workers, 17% of its workforce, in February—five months after it cut 11% of its workers.
Goldman Sachs
While it still offers rides to employees that work late in the evening, the bank has done away with free breakfast and lunch, and no longer offers free coffee in the Sky Lobby on the 11th floor of its headquarters.
Elon Musk’s takeover has perhaps resulted in the most aggressive transformation of the workplace culture. Among the perks that were axes were everything to do with “Wellness,” as well as company-wide group activities, the coverage of daycare costs, reimbursement for home internet costs, free food and allowances for food while traveling.
Forget about a shoulder rub after a hard day. The company’s in-house massage therapists were included in the layoff of 12,000 employees in January. The cuts included 27 therapists in total, 24 at the head office and three across Los Angeles and Irvine.
March 8, 2022: This story has been updated to clarify what perks have been cut at Salesforce.
