The company that once put ping-pong tables in its offices is now rationing staplers.
According to CNBC, Google is no longer providing staplers and tape to its print stations worldwide. The report quotes a facility directive from San Francisco, which stated, “if you need a stapler or tape, the receptionist desk has them to borrow.”
Staplers of course are not the extent of its cost cutting, which also includes slowing how often equipment is replaced, and more pertinently, cutting 12,000 jobs.
Also read: More than 166,000 tech-sector employees have lost their jobs since the start of 2023
That’s just one sign of the cost cutting in Silicon Valley, that has been embraced by investors. Shares of Google’s parent company Alphabet GOOGL, +0.34% are up 18% this year, and the broader Nasdaq Composite COMP, -0.52% has gained 16%. The yield on the 2-year Treasury TMUBMUSD02Y, 3.882% is down 42 basis points in 2023, which also is providing a tailwind to riskier assets.
