Facebook to Cut Back on Employee Perks

Mike Isaac, Ryan Mac, and Sheera Frenkel, reporting for The New York Times:

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, told employees on Friday that it was cutting back or eliminating free services like laundry and dry cleaning and was pushing back the dinner bell for a free meal from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., according to seven company employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The new dinner time is an inconvenience because the last of the company’s shuttles that take employees to and from their homes typically leaves the office at 6 p.m. It will also make it more difficult for workers to stock up on hefty to-go boxes of food and bring them to their refrigerators at home.

I feel just awful for these awful people who willfully work for an awful company.

The changes could be a warning shot for employees at other companies that are preparing to return to the office after two years of the coronavirus pandemic. Google, Meta and others have long offered creature comforts like on-site medical attention, sushi buffets, candy stores and beanbag chairs to lure and retain top talent, which remains at a premium in the tech industry.

Apple has never really been a part of the Silicon Valley extravagant perks game. When upstart companies like Google were giving away free meals and haircuts and installing adult-sized sliding boards, Apple stayed the course with on-campus cafes where the food was good, but employees had to, you know, pay for it. People said Apple was out of touch then.

★ Monday, 14 March 2022