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Google to cut down on employee laptops, services and staplers

cnbc.com

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Re: Google to cut down on employee laptops, services and staplers

#21

Post by commandlinefan »

danielfoster wrote: post #11

I’m not a major Google shareholder, but if I were I would fire the management. I’ve never heard of such a large company itemizing an expense as trivial as staplers. It’s pretty clear the company has lost its innovation culture.

> as trivial as staplers.

I used to be over by the window, and I could see the squirrels, and they were merry, but then, they switched from the Swingline to the Boston stapler, but I kept my Swingline stapler because it didn't bind up as much, and I kept the staples for the Swingline stapler and it's not okay because if they take my stapler then I'll set the building on fire...

Re: Google to cut down on employee laptops, services and staplers

#22

Post by compiler-guy »

billconan wrote: post #3

One of my best friends landed a job at Google after graduation. She told me about a fellow new hire she met during orientation who said she planned to coast along in the job since she had learned that Google never lays people off. I guess there is no such thing as a completely secure job, even at a company like Google.

Underperforming people are routinely managed out or just plain let go. It's not unusual at all.

Re: Google to cut down on employee laptops, services and staplers

#24

Post by xkbarkar »

operatingthetan wrote: post #17

This is a company that provides free food all day, and their first inclination is to cut the tape and staplers? Cutting one meal service across all locations would save a lot more, but maybe that would cause more employees to complain.

Yeah no. Free food != superflous staplers. Hard disagree on that one

Re: Google to cut down on employee laptops, services and staplers

#26

Post by mikestew »

Surely I can't be the only HN reader that thought, "I can't remember the last time I touched a stapler." Frankly, I think the headline writer threw staplers in there just for the sizzle. If I might so boldly suggest reading TFA, staplers are just one example of other things that made a lot of sense. Yoga classes on a Friday afternoon when a lot of folks WFH (or not at all on a Friday afternoon)? Handing out multi-core full-blown laptops to non-technical roles that could just as easily get by with a Chromebook? Buses running with one passenger? Get a company Google's size, and that stuff starts to add up to real money.

So, yeah, Google is swirling the toilet because someone has to walk to the receptionist's desk once a year to get a piece of tape or borrow a stapler. I'd be more worried about a company that just hands out shit that no one uses, without ever once asking if anyone actually uses it.

Re: Google to cut down on employee laptops, services and staplers

#27

Post by commandlinefan »

litoE wrote: post #7

Can I keep my red Swingline stapler?

Fun fact: when that movie came out, swingline actually didn't make a red stapler - the producers painted a black one red because it showed up better on camera. After the movie came out, demand for red swingline staplers was so high, they started producing them and it became their biggest seller for years.

Re: Google to cut down on employee laptops, services and staplers

#28

Post by unsupp0rted »

I remember during a Conan O’Brien chat with Simpsons writers they told how at the height of billions of dollars of ancillary sales of Simpsons merch, the head of production of 20th Century Fox was complaining that the writers were charging up too much in expenses on pretzels.

https://youtu.be/DtJ28qOEG1g at 28:07

Re: Google to cut down on employee laptops, services and staplers

#30

Post by deathanatos »

dralley wrote: post #19
taeric wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also... how bad off is the company if they are worried about the expense of staples/tape!? Just, wow.

They have better than 25% operating margin on a company with massive revenue. They're fine, but the shareholders must be appeased with human sacrifice.

Do they? A large chunk of the market is held by retirement accounts. My 401k doesn't care about staplers, and I would very much value long-term gains over short-term savings.

Collectively, 401k holders don't have much of a voice. I suppose Vanguard might, but even so, retirement accounts are specifically balanced such that they have less short-term risk the nearer they come to fruition, and Vanguard's motive, in theory, should be to provide me with better long-term gains, not short-term savings at the expense of a worse retirement.

I think I want to see a stronger argument for "the shareholders" … and/or these sorts of (idiotic) decisions (that we see far more companies doing than just Google; cf the McD's article that trended earlier where McD is laying people off while beating profit expectations!) would seem to fall squarely on bad management.

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