Cutting corners: What's a once-illustrious tech giant to do when it's struggling financially, laying off 16,500 people, loses its place in the Dow Jones index, and is being sued over a major hardware issue spanning two generations of CPUs? If you're Intel, the answer is to boost employee morale by bringing back their free tea and coffee.
It was reported last month that Intel is letting go of over 2,000 people in the US. The layoffs will mostly affect workers at its Hillsboro, Oregon offices, where 1,300 people are being notified that they will lose their jobs. It's part of cost-cutting moves Intel announced in August following a terrible second quarter that will see 16,500 jobs slashed across its business.
Those employees Intel is keeping will have their benefits reduced as the company looks to shrink its budget. As reported by The Oregonian, these measures include reducing the value of an employee stock purchase program, restricting when employees can buy stock through the scheme.
Also killed off is a sabbatical Intel offered employees after four years, while the duration of its seventh-year sabbatical has been halved, from eight weeks to four weeks. Furthermore, the Intel Air Shuttle, which flies workers between its major sites in Hillsboro, Silicon Valley, and Arizona, is being permanently grounded.
Even small perks for staff were cut, including fitness coaches staffing its gyms and the free fruit and beverages given to employees.
But it seems taking away workers' hot drinks proved a step too far. Team Blue has informed staff this week that it will bring back free tea and coffee at its work sites.
"Although Intel still faces cost challenges, we understand that small comforts play a significant role in our daily routines," Intel wrote on its internal messaging forum, called Circuit. "We know this is a small step, but we hope it is a meaningful one in supporting our workplace culture."
It appears that Intel is prioritizing caffeinating its workers over making them healthier as the free fruit and fitness coaches aren't returning.
Bringing back the free beverages is a reversal of Intel's stance just one week ago. At an all-company meeting, Christy Pambianchi, Intel's chief people officer, told employees that Intel had been spending $100 million annually on free and discounted food and beverages and couldn't afford to keep doing that. She added that the freebies would be suspended until Intel was in a better financial health position. But it reversed its decision a few days later.
At the same meeting, employees were told that the structure of their annual stock bonuses was changing. It's hard to imagine bringing back the coffee and tea will placate workers after hearing this news.
In other Intel stories this week, the company is being sued over the instability issues in its Raptor Lake CPUs, and top US policymakers are discreetly weighing contingency plans to support the struggling company.
Masthead: Andrew Neel