Posted on: Saturday, August 4, 2001
Many workers opt to give up job perks
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Gone are the catered lunches, the fruit baskets and the free bottled water. Likewise handouts of cell phones or souped-up laptop computers. And forget first-class air travel, upscale hotels and car services.
The generous perks that became commonplace in Corporate America during the booming 1990s are being slashed by many businesses scrambling to save their nickels and dimes during the economic downtown.
While workers love the cushy benefits, they are glad to forgo such indulgences if it means their businesses stay alive.
"I've eaten at more diners than I've ever eaten at before," said Richard Laermer, chief executive of RLM public relations in New York. "If that's what it takes to keep costs down, I will do it."
The competitive job market over the last few years left corporations struggling to find and retain quality employees. Some companies provided in-office massages and pedicures; others offered concierge services that handled workers' dry cleaning. Many companies spent generously on parties at hot restaurants; workers were showered with the latest high-tech gear.
But the weakened economy and stock market bust have changed all that.
"There is now a very clear distinction between 'nice vs. necessary' when it comes to perks and other symbolic services," said Tom Casey, a partner in charge of Unifi Network, the human resources subsidiary of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
At RLM, Laermer put the brakes on spending as many of his clients hit the financial skids. Not only did he cut off room service when he travels, he now stays at less expensive hotels. He has traded car-service and taxi travel in New York for the subways.
His staff has been stripped of its BlackBerry interactive pagers, which let users read their e-mail from anywhere. Free food is no longer brought into the office.
"We went a little far with our expenses," Laermer said.
At UGO Networks, a Web-based entertainment portal, the price of soda has been boosted from a quarter to 50 cents after a corporate subsidy went by the wayside. Parties at clubs and restaurants have been replaced by cupcakes in the office.
New York-based UGO also dumped its array of flavored coffees and espressos, replacing them with the basic black variety. Some staffers have gone so far as to ask co-workers to reduce their use of disposable cups and preferably use their own mugs.
"We have numbers we want to hit and people are willing to cut out certain things to get there," said UGO spokeswoman Sabine Heller.
Lucent Technologies Inc. already cut about 19,000 jobs, with up to 20,000 more in the offing. The telecommunications giant is scaling back in other ways as it pursues a target of $2 billion in annual savings.
Worker cubicles at headquarters in Murray Hill, N.J., now have one fluorescent bulb, down from four. Employees who had both cell phones and pagers were asked to surrender one of the devices. Free coffee and water coolers have also disappeared.
Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, got rid of the indoor plants at its offices in New York and South Bruns-
wick, N.J., to save on the cost of maintenance. The move is expected to save $40,000 a year for Dow Jones, which has laid off more than 400 people this year.
There have been significant cutbacks at Relativity Technologies, which makes software to adapt older computers to the Internet.
Employees are allowed to travel only if their plane tickets cost less than $500. Those needing new computers are told to pass over laptops for cheaper desktop models, and company-owned cell phones are being shared.
But while there has been significant belt-tightening at the Cary, N.C.-based company, CEO Vivek Wadhwa does not believe every perk has to suffer. The company's kitchen remains fully stocked and lunch is supplied at least once a week.
"You can be tough on travel and laptops, but you need to keep up some human things that make it pleasurable for people to come to work," Wadhwa said. "I am not willing to give those up, even if I have to pay for them out of my own pocket."
