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谷歌开始削减开支,连订书机数量都要削减

TRISTAN BOVE
2023-04-06

许多员工近年来已经习惯的丰厚办公室福利将一去不复返。

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谷歌首席财务官露丝·波拉特上周五在写给员工的备忘录中披露了更多的削减成本措施。图片来源:DAVID PAUL MORRIS—BLOOMBERG/GETTY IMAGES

谷歌已经撤掉了远程办公员工的独立办公桌,也取消了远程员工的免费午餐和健身课程,但随着公司开始“尽最大努力”降低成本,且预计这一降本措施将持续多年,许多员工近年来已经习惯的丰厚办公室福利将一去不复返。

谷歌及其母公司Alphabet的首席财务官的露丝·波拉特周五在一封电子邮件中告诉员工,在公司进一步提高效率和优化运营的过程中,预计将会进一步削减员工服务和办公室福利。《华尔街日报》首先报道了该备忘录的内容,Insider网站周五全文报道了备忘录的内容。

根据备忘录,谷歌在节省开支方面采取的力度最大的措施是在1月份宣布的影响1.2万名员工的裁员计划,该计划在一些国家仍在进行中。“谷歌员工不会发现”大多数其他变化,因为这些变化主要涉及利用机器来完成一些数据处理工作,并提高服务器和数据中心的效率。与此同时,该公司将继续投资于它认为对其未来很重要的研究领域,包括人工智能。

但是,在员工可以看到的变化中,谷歌继续大幅削减服务和办公室福利,而直到最近,这些服务和福利都是这家科技巨头吸引潜在员工的关键。美国全国广播公司财经频道周一援引与波拉特邮件不同的公司内部文件报道称,该公司还将削减一些办公设备,包括订书机和桌面显示器。谷歌还将取消一些备受推崇的小吃餐吧和食品供应,一些自助餐厅将在办公室人数相对较少的日子完全关闭。其他员工福利的时间表和频率,如公司班车服务和办公室健身课程,将根据混合办公模式时间表进行调整。关于在哪一天关闭哪些设施的决定将根据办公室的具体出勤情况逐案做出。

据美国全国广播公司财经频道报道,除了削减大量的食品、交通和办公室健身服务外,谷歌还将停止为员工提供免费按摩服务,据说是因为这些福利是在公司开始进行远程办公之前为员工每周来公司工作五天而设计的。据美国全国广播公司财经频道报道,作为1月份宣布的裁员计划的一部分,加州多个办事处的27名内部按摩师被解雇。

这并不是谷歌通过混合办公模式削减成本的第一步,自去年以来,该公司一直在努力将混合办公模式变成常态,甚至要求习惯远程办公的员工接受混合办公模式。今年2月,谷歌要求部分云计算办公室的员工坚持固定的混合办公时间表,这样同事们就可以轮流使用办公桌。

谷歌还削减了员工的设备成本,比如办公笔记本电脑。根据备忘录,在保证员工将“拥有履行职责所需的一切” 的同时,由于目前的设备寿命更长,性能更好,这意味着要减少现有设备的更换频率。备忘录中提到设备支出“对于我们这样规模的公司来说是一项重大开支”。

谷歌的一名前员工记录了从丰厚的办公室福利到被线上解雇这一突然转变,一些人批评这种线上解雇方式冷漠无情。该员工在1月份被解雇,此前她曾在个人TikTok账户上记录了公司的办公室福利。她曾发布视频,详细介绍了谷歌极具创意设计的会议室和公司欢乐时光的主题酒吧。她说,她被解雇的那天,先是收到了一条不祥的短信,随后她的工作账户被锁住了,直到她的经理最终在线上确认她被解雇了。

虽然该公司没有表示计划在1月份宣布的裁员之外进行更多轮裁员,但它取消被裁员工福利的做法被认为是在削减成本,因此受到指责。上个月,100多名在休产假或病假期间被解雇的前员工公开批评该公司未能支付他们剩余的病产假工资。

周五的备忘录称,谷歌将利用其数据分析部门来了解公司在哪些方面可以提高效率,并将这一方法与2008年金融危机期间采取的类似措施进行了比较:“就像我们在2008年所做的那样,我们将通过分析数据来确定其他没有达到预定成效,或者无法与我们现有规模相匹配的支出领域。”

尽管削减了服务,谷歌公司发言人瑞安•拉蒙特(Ryan Lamont)告诉《财富》杂志,该公司仍打算在员工福利方面保持行业领先地位。

他表示:“正如我们公开声明的那样,我们的公司目标是通过提高速度和效率来实现持久节约。作为这一计划的一部分,我们会做出一些实际改变,以便承担起管理资源的重任,同时继续提供行业领先的福利待遇和设施。”(财富中文网)

译者:中慧言-王芳

谷歌已经撤掉了远程办公员工的独立办公桌,也取消了远程员工的免费午餐和健身课程,但随着公司开始“尽最大努力”降低成本,且预计这一降本措施将持续多年,许多员工近年来已经习惯的丰厚办公室福利将一去不复返。

谷歌及其母公司Alphabet的首席财务官的露丝·波拉特周五在一封电子邮件中告诉员工,在公司进一步提高效率和优化运营的过程中,预计将会进一步削减员工服务和办公室福利。《华尔街日报》首先报道了该备忘录的内容,Insider网站周五全文报道了备忘录的内容。

根据备忘录,谷歌在节省开支方面采取的力度最大的措施是在1月份宣布的影响1.2万名员工的裁员计划,该计划在一些国家仍在进行中。“谷歌员工不会发现”大多数其他变化,因为这些变化主要涉及利用机器来完成一些数据处理工作,并提高服务器和数据中心的效率。与此同时,该公司将继续投资于它认为对其未来很重要的研究领域,包括人工智能。

但是,在员工可以看到的变化中,谷歌继续大幅削减服务和办公室福利,而直到最近,这些服务和福利都是这家科技巨头吸引潜在员工的关键。美国全国广播公司财经频道周一援引与波拉特邮件不同的公司内部文件报道称,该公司还将削减一些办公设备,包括订书机和桌面显示器。谷歌还将取消一些备受推崇的小吃餐吧和食品供应,一些自助餐厅将在办公室人数相对较少的日子完全关闭。其他员工福利的时间表和频率,如公司班车服务和办公室健身课程,将根据混合办公模式时间表进行调整。关于在哪一天关闭哪些设施的决定将根据办公室的具体出勤情况逐案做出。

据美国全国广播公司财经频道报道,除了削减大量的食品、交通和办公室健身服务外,谷歌还将停止为员工提供免费按摩服务,据说是因为这些福利是在公司开始进行远程办公之前为员工每周来公司工作五天而设计的。据美国全国广播公司财经频道报道,作为1月份宣布的裁员计划的一部分,加州多个办事处的27名内部按摩师被解雇。

这并不是谷歌通过混合办公模式削减成本的第一步,自去年以来,该公司一直在努力将混合办公模式变成常态,甚至要求习惯远程办公的员工接受混合办公模式。今年2月,谷歌要求部分云计算办公室的员工坚持固定的混合办公时间表,这样同事们就可以轮流使用办公桌。

谷歌还削减了员工的设备成本,比如办公笔记本电脑。根据备忘录,在保证员工将“拥有履行职责所需的一切” 的同时,由于目前的设备寿命更长,性能更好,这意味着要减少现有设备的更换频率。备忘录中提到设备支出“对于我们这样规模的公司来说是一项重大开支”。

谷歌的一名前员工记录了从丰厚的办公室福利到被线上解雇这一突然转变,一些人批评这种线上解雇方式冷漠无情。该员工在1月份被解雇,此前她曾在个人TikTok账户上记录了公司的办公室福利。她曾发布视频,详细介绍了谷歌极具创意设计的会议室和公司欢乐时光的主题酒吧。她说,她被解雇的那天,先是收到了一条不祥的短信,随后她的工作账户被锁住了,直到她的经理最终在线上确认她被解雇了。

虽然该公司没有表示计划在1月份宣布的裁员之外进行更多轮裁员,但它取消被裁员工福利的做法被认为是在削减成本,因此受到指责。上个月,100多名在休产假或病假期间被解雇的前员工公开批评该公司未能支付他们剩余的病产假工资。

周五的备忘录称,谷歌将利用其数据分析部门来了解公司在哪些方面可以提高效率,并将这一方法与2008年金融危机期间采取的类似措施进行了比较:“就像我们在2008年所做的那样,我们将通过分析数据来确定其他没有达到预定成效,或者无法与我们现有规模相匹配的支出领域。”

尽管削减了服务,谷歌公司发言人瑞安•拉蒙特(Ryan Lamont)告诉《财富》杂志,该公司仍打算在员工福利方面保持行业领先地位。

他表示:“正如我们公开声明的那样,我们的公司目标是通过提高速度和效率来实现持久节约。作为这一计划的一部分,我们会做出一些实际改变,以便承担起管理资源的重任,同时继续提供行业领先的福利待遇和设施。”(财富中文网)

译者:中慧言-王芳

Google has already done away with individual desks and free lunches and gym classes for remote workers, but even more cutbacks are on the way to the lavish in-office lifestyle many employees had become accustomed to in recent years, as the company kicks off its “big, multiyear efforts” to reduce costs.

Ruth Porat, who serves as CFO at Google as well as its parent company, Alphabet, told workers in an email Friday to expect more cuts to employee services and in-office perks, amid the company’s larger push to efficiency and optimizing operations. The memo’s contents were first reported by the Wall Street Journal, and a transcript was reported in full by Insider on Friday.

The biggest measure to save on expenses at Google will be through its workforce reduction plans announced in January affecting 12,000 employees, which are still ongoing in some countries, according to the memo. Most other changes “won’t be visible to most Googlers,” as they largely involve tapping machines for some data processing work and improving the efficiency of servers and data centers. At the same time, the company will continue to invest in research areas it considers important to its future, including artificial intelligence.

But in changes that will be visible to employees, Google is continuing its aggressive rollback of services and in-office perks that until very recently were central to the tech giant’s appeal to prospective employees. The company will also cut back on some office equipment including staplers and desktop monitors, CNBC reported Monday citing internal company documents separate from Porat’s email. Google will also eliminate some of its vaunted snack bars and food offerings, and some cafeterias will be closed entirely on days with relatively few people in the office. Timetables and frequency for other employee perks, such as company shuttle services and in-office fitness classes, will be adjusted based on hybrid schedules. Decisions on which facilities to close on what days will be made on a case-by-case basis depending on office attendance.

In addition to cutting extensive food, transportation, and in-office fitness offerings, Google is also ending its free massage services for employees, according to CNBC, reportedly because these perks were designed before the company began going remote and workers came in five days a week. As part of its layoffs announced in January, 27 in-house massage therapists across multiple California offices were let go, CNBC reported at the time.

It isn’t the first step Google has taken to cut costs through its hybrid work arrangement, which the company has been trying to turn into the norm since last year even for employees accustomed to remote work. In February, Google asked staff at some of its Cloud offices to stick to a fixed hybrid schedule so that coworkers could share each other’s desks on intermittent days.

Google is also cutting back on equipment costs for employees, such as work laptops. While assuring that workers will “have what they need to perform their role,” the memo said that current devices have longer life spans and can perform better, meaning they do not have to be replaced as often. The memo referred to equipment as a “significant expense for a company of our size.”

The abrupt shift from lavish in-office perks to virtual terminations that some criticized as insensitive was documented by one former Google employee who was laid off in January and recorded the company’s office benefits on her personal TikTok account. The employee, who had previously posted videos detailing Google’s creatively designed meeting rooms and themed bars for company happy hours, reported how the day she was laid off began with an ominous text message, followed by her being locked out of her work accounts before her manager finally confirmed her termination virtually.

While the company has not indicated it is planning on more layoffs beyond those announced in January, it has come under fire for perceived cost-cutting in withholding benefits for laid-off employees. Over 100 former employees who were laid off while on maternity or medical leave publicly criticized the company last month for allegedly failing to pay them for the remainder of their contracted time off.

Friday’s memo said Google will tap its data analytics arm to understand where efficiency at the company can be improved, comparing the approach to similar measures taken in 2008 during the financial crisis: “Just as we did in 2008, we’ll be looking at data to identify other areas of spending that aren’t as effective as they should be, or that don’t scale at our size.”

Despite the cutbacks in services, Ryan Lamont, a Google spokesperson, told Fortune that the company intends to remain an industry leader in employee perks.

“As we’ve publicly stated, we have a company goal to make durable savings through improved velocity and efficiency. As part of this, we’re making some practical changes to help us remain responsible stewards of our resources while continuing to offer industry-leading perks, benefits, and amenities,” he said.

财富中文网所刊载内容之知识产权为财富媒体知识产权有限公司及/或相关权利人专属所有或持有。未经许可,禁止进行转载、摘编、复制及建立镜像等任何使用。
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