Citing the “challenging economic environment,” Google leadership sent a memo to staff announcing that the company’s well-known office perks will go through some changes.
“We set a high bar for industry-leading perks, benefits and office amenities, and will continue that into the future,” said the memo, reprinted in full by Insider.
For example, Google’s campus in Chicago’s West Loop has coffee bars, two cafes, outdoor decks (including one with a train car) a gym, a music room, a makerspace, and arcade games, according to its website. Google has been in Chicago for decades and it announced the city would be its “finance hub” in 2019.
“However, some programs need to evolve for how Google works today,” said the memo. It also noted that Google has “been here before,” in 2008, when expenses were outpacing revenue. During that time, the Great Recession created a difficult economic environment.
This time, Google Cafes, MicroKitchens and other facilities at the company’s offices will have operational changes based on use. Per the memo, offices are now on a hybrid schedule and the new hours will by determined via data about how the amenities are used.
“For example, where a cafe is seeing a significantly lower volume of use on certain days, we’ll close it on those days and put more focus instead on popular options that are close by,” it said. “Similarly, we’ll consolidate MicroKitchens in buildings where we’re seeing more waste than value. We’ll also shift some fitness classes and shuttle schedules based on how they’re being used.”
Equipment provided to Google employees will also be made available at a different pace.
“As well as helping to bring down costs, these changes will reduce food waste and be better for the environment,” said the memo.
Earlier this year, Google announced that it would lay off 12,000 workers.
“This will mean saying goodbye to some incredibly talented people we worked hard to hire and have loved working with,” said a message attributed to Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and its parent company, Alphabet.
Google isn’t the only large company cutting costs in the West Loop. McDonald’s ordered that its corporate employees – including 2,000 people in the Windy City – to work from home earlier this week. That announcement came before another announcement about layoffs.
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