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The Great Stapler Crisis: The End of Tech Company Perks?

The Great Stapler Crisis: The End of Tech Company Perks?

Last updated on: June 12, 2023 at 10:39 am by Gleb Tsipursky

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The Great Stapler Crisis: The End of Tech Company Perks? 2023-06-12T10:39:04-04:00 Gleb Tsipursky

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Tech Company Perks

Google recently announced it would be getting rid of office-based services, laptops, and even the humble stapler, while forcing employees to share desks! No, this is not satire from The Onion. Long gone are the days when the tech industry was synonymous with free food, nap pods, and all-expenses-paid retreats. In a new era of cost-cutting, we’re seeing not only the end of generous perks but also the trimming of what used to be considered essentials. What does this mean for employees who once enjoyed unparalleled office luxuries? Let’s find out.

From Staplers to Desks: A Tale of Shared Misery

As tech companies increasingly adopt hybrid and remote work models, many are questioning the necessity of certain office supplies and spaces. Google’s decision to ditch staplers may seem trivial, but it’s indicative of a broader trend. As employees spend less time in the office, sharing resources becomes the new normal.

Imagine the chaos of employees scrambling to claim the one office stapler, like seagulls fighting over a discarded sandwich. Or picture the simmering resentment as desk-sharing arrangements force workers to elbow each other for space, like subway commuters at rush hour. It’s a far cry from the utopian image of the tech industry we once knew.

The Cost of Cutting Corners

While companies may save money by eliminating what they consider non-essential items, they risk alienating their workforce. After all, it’s the talented employees who’ve made these tech giants what they are today. By skimping on basic resources, companies are sending a clear message: You’re not worth the investment.

The long-term impact of such penny-pinching can be devastating. Demoralized employees are less productive, less innovative, and more likely to seek employment elsewhere. And when word gets out about the great stapler crisis, the best and brightest may think twice before joining these once-glorious tech behemoths.

Hybrid Work Flexibility: The Ultimate Cost-Effective Perk

In the midst of the stapler saga, tech companies should not overlook the importance of hybrid work flexibility. As a perk, it not only meets the evolving needs of employees but also comes at little to no cost to the company. Having helped 21 companies transition to a flexibly hybrid work model, I find that my clients invariably discover how emphasizing flexibility options can make all the difference in attracting and retaining top talent, even if you’re cutting corners elsewhere due to financial conditions.

The reality is that many employees today are seeking a better work-life balance. Remote work flexibility allows them to achieve this without the need for costly office perks. It’s a win-win situation for both employees and employers. Tech companies can save on office-related expenses while offering a highly sought-after benefit that actually improves employees’ well-being and satisfaction.

The Shift in Priorities: What Matters Now?

With the decline of extravagant perks and even basic resources, what do tech companies need to prioritize to keep their employees satisfied? The answer lies in a renewed focus on more meaningful benefits.

Employees no longer care about free kombucha on tap; they want flexibility, fair compensation, comprehensive healthcare, and meaningful opportunities for growth. Indeed, they really crave work-life balance, with flexible hours and the ability to work remotely. Instead of ping pong tables and nap pods, they want a supportive, inclusive, and flexible culture that values their well-being and encourages collaboration. No wonder that a recent survey by Cisco reported that, in ranking top priorities by employees, 23% chose flexibility, second only to higher salary at 34%, both of which outranked other priorities like benefits or a sense of purpose.

As found by my clients in tech, a new focus on remote work flexibility, fair salaries, and benefits, along with opportunities for professional development, presents a more sustainable path for tech companies. Instead of offering fleeting, expensive perks, investing in these long-lasting benefits will contribute to a more satisfied and committed workforce.

Finding the Balance: Where Do We Go from Here?

It’s clear that the tech industry is in the midst of an identity crisis. As companies pivot away from the “perks galore” model, they must find a way to strike the right balance between cost-efficiency and employee satisfaction.

The solution doesn’t lie in returning to the days of lavish perks, nor does it involve cutting resources to the point of absurdity (goodbye, staplers). Rather, tech companies must invest in the right areas to foster a thriving workforce.

This means offering fair salaries and benefits, providing opportunities for professional development, and embracing a culture of flexibility and work-life balance. Remote work flexibility, in particular, is a powerful tool that can help companies retain top talent and maintain a competitive edge, all without breaking the bank.

The Takeaway: The Stapler Saga as a Cautionary Tale

The stapler saga, though amusing, serves as a cautionary tale for the tech industry. Companies must carefully consider the implications of their cost-cutting measures to avoid harming their relationships with their most valuable asset: their people.

By focusing on the aspects that truly matter – fair compensation, meaningful benefits, and a healthy work environment – and especially emphasizing remote work flexibility, tech companies can navigate these challenging times and emerge stronger than ever.

Let the stapler saga serve as a cautionary tale for the industry: It’s time to find a sustainable balance between perks and necessities, ensuring that the workforce remains happy, productive, and engaged. In the end, a satisfied employee empowered by remote work flexibility is worth far more than a hundred staplers.

Key Take-Away

Tech perks gone, focus on fair pay, benefits, work-life balance. Remote work retains top talent. Balance cost-efficiency, satisfaction to keep valuable employees… >Click to tweet

Image credit: Karolina Grabowska/Pexels

Lauded as “Office Whisperer” and “Hybrid Expert” by The New York Times, Dr. Gleb Tsipursky helps leaders use hybrid work to improve retention and productivity while cutting costs. He serves as the CEO of the boutique future-of-work consultancy Disaster Avoidance Experts. Dr. Gleb wrote the first book on returning to the office and leading hybrid teams after the pandemic, his best-seller Returning to the Office and Leading Hybrid and Remote Teams: A Manual on Benchmarking to Best Practices for Competitive Advantage (Intentional Insights, 2021). He authored seven books in total, and is best know for his global bestseller, Never Go With Your Gut: How Pioneering Leaders Make the Best Decisions and Avoid Business Disasters (Career Press, 2019). His cutting-edge thought leadership was featured in over 650 articles and 550 interviews in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, USA Today, CBS News, Fox News, Time, Business Insider, Fortune, and elsewhere. His writing was translated into Chinese, Korean, German, Russian, Polish, Spanish, French, and other languages. His expertise comes from over 20 years of consulting, coaching, and speaking and training for Fortune 500 companies from Aflac to Xerox. It also comes from over 15 years in academia as a behavioral scientist, with 8 years as a lecturer at UNC-Chapel Hill and 7 years as a professor at Ohio State. A proud Ukrainian American, Dr. Gleb lives in Columbus, Ohio. In his free time, he makes sure to spend abundant quality time with his wife to avoid his personal life turning into a disaster. Contact him at Gleb[at]DisasterAvoidanceExperts[dot]com, follow him on LinkedIn @dr-gleb-tsipursky, Twitter @gleb_tsipursky, Instagram @dr_gleb_tsipursky, Facebook @DrGlebTsipursky, Medium @dr_gleb_tsipursky, YouTube, and RSS, and get a free copy of the Assessment on Dangerous Judgment Errors in the Workplace by signing up for the free Wise Decision Maker Course at https://disasteravoidanceexperts.com/newsletter/.

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About Dr. Gleb Tsipursky

Known as the Disaster Avoidance Expert, Dr. Gleb Tsipursky is on a mission to protect leaders from dangerous judgment errors known as cognitive biases, which devastate bottom lines and bring down high-flying careers. His expertise and passion is developing the most effective and profitable decision-making strategies, based on pragmatic business experience and cutting-edge behavioral economics and cognitive neuroscience, to empower leaders to avoid business disasters and maximize their bottom lines. You can learn more here https://disasteravoidanceexperts.com/glebtsipursky/ The bestselling author of several books, Dr. Tsipursky is best known for his national bestseller on avoiding disasters and achieving success in business and other life areas, The Truth Seeker’s Handbook: A Science-Based Guide. His next book, Never Go With Your Gut: How Pioneering Leaders Make the Best Decisions and Avoid Business Disasters, is forthcoming with Career Press in November 2019. It’s the first book to focus on cognitive biases in business leadership and reveal how leaders can overcome these dangerous judgment errors effectively. After that he’s publishing The Blindspots Between Us: How to Overcome Unconscious Cognitive Bias and Build Better Relationships with New Harbinger in April 2020, the first book to focus on cognitive biases in professional and personal relationships and illustrate how we can defeat these dangerous judgment errors in our relationships. See more information here https://disasteravoidanceexperts.com/author-page/ Dr. Tsipursky’s cutting-edge thought leadership was featured in over 400 articles he published and over 350 interviews he gave to popular venues that include Fast Company, CBS News, Time, Scientific American, Psychology Today, The Conversation, Business Insider, Government Executive, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Inc. Magazine, and many others, as you can see here https://disasteravoidanceexperts.com/media/ Dr. Tsipursky's expertise comes from over 20 years of consulting, coaching, speaking, and training for businesses and nonprofits. He serves as the CEO of the boutique consulting, coaching, and training firm Disaster Avoidance Experts, which uses a proprietary methodology based on groundbreaking research to help leaders and organizations maximize their bottom lines by addressing potential threats, seizing unexpected opportunities, and resolving persistent personnel problems. His clients include Aflac, Balance Employment Assistance Provider, Edison Welding Institute, Fifth Third Bank, Honda, IBM, International Coaches Federation, Ohio Hospitals Association, National Association of Women Business Owners, Sentinel Real Estate, The Society for Human Resource Management, RealManage, The Columbus Foundation, Vistage, Wells Fargo, the World Wildlife Fund, and over a hundred others who achieve outstanding client results. You can learn more about that here: https://disasteravoidanceexperts.com/about Dr. Tsipursky also has a strong research and teaching background in behavioral economics and cognitive neuroscience with over 15 years in academia, including 7 years as a professor at the Ohio State University and before that a Fellow at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. His dozens of peer-reviewed academic publications include journals such as Behavior and Social Issues, Journal of Social and Political Psychology, and International Journal of Existential Psychology and Psychotherapy. His civic service includes over 4 years as the Chair of the Board of Directors of Intentional Insights, an educational nonprofit advocating for research-based decision-making in all life areas. He also co-founded the Pro-Truth Pledge, a civic project to promote truthfulness and integrity for individual professionals and leaders in the same way that the Better Business Bureau serves as a commitment for businesses. He serves on the Advisory Board of Canonical Debate Lab and Planet Purpose, and is on the Editorial Board of the peer-reviewed journal Behavior and Social Issues. A highly in-demand international speaker, Dr. Tsipursky has over two decades of professional speaking experience across North America, Europe, and Australia. He gets top marks from audiences for his highly facilitative, interactive, and humor-filled speaking style and the way he thoroughly customizes speeches for diverse audiences. Meeting planners describe Dr. Tsipursky as "very relatable," as "a snap to work with," and as someone who "does everything that you would want a speaker to do." Drawing on best practices in adult learning, his programs address the wide spectrum of diverse learning styles, as attested by enthusiastic client testimonials and references. He regularly shares the stage with prominent leaders, for example recently speaking on a roundtable panel with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Elhadj As Sy, Chancellor of Austria Brigitte Bierlein, CEO of Penguin Random House Markus Dohle, and billionaire philanthropist and Chair of the Bertelsmann Management Company Liz Mohn. You can learn more about his speaking and see videos here: https://disasteravoidanceexperts.com/speaking/ Dr. Tsipursky earned his PhD in the History of Behavioral Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2011, his M.A. at Harvard University in 2004, and his B.A. at New York University in 2002. He lives in and travels from Columbus, OH. In his free time, he enjoys tennis, hiking, and playing with his two cats, and most importantly, he makes sure to spend abundant quality time with his wife to avoid disasters in his personal life. Learn more about him at https://DisasterAvoidanceExperts.com/GlebTsipursky, contact him at Gleb[at]DisasterAvoidanceExperts[dot]com, follow him on Instagram @dr_gleb_tsipursky and Twitter @gleb_tsipursky. Most importantly, help yourself avoid disasters and maximize success, and get a free copy of the “Assessment on Dangerous Judgment Errors in the Workplace,” by signing up for his free Wise Decision Maker Course at https:// DisasterAvoidanceExperts.com/Subscribe You can read more about the author here.

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