- Intel workers will now get free tea and coffee in the office
- Other reinstated employee benefits are unconfirmed
- Company revenue dropped 1% YoY last quarter, it could drop again next quarter
In an effort to boost workers’ morale and encourage them to be more productive in the office by giving them more creature comforts, Intel has restored its free tea and coffee provisions.
The gesture comes after a tumultuous few months for the company, which was forced to lay off around 15,000 workers just a couple of months ago.
Intel had previously put an end to employee perks, like free beverages, fruit, fitness trainers and other in-house amenities as a cost-cutting measure, but it has now reinstated what seems to be its lowest-cost offering.
Intel will give workers free hot drinks again
Speaking about the internal changes, Intel CPO Christy Pambianchi said: “We really aren’t in a situation where we could continue to afford benefits and programs that are above market practice.” Free food and drinks at the company reportedly cost it $100 million annually.
Reducing its headcount by 15% and implementing other cost-cutting measures are hoped to save the company around $10 billion in annual expenses.
In its most recent earnings release, the company revealed revenue dropped 1% year-over-year to $12.8 billion, and also predicted poor performance for the next quarter. At its low point of $12.5 billion, revenue could drop even further, but at its high point of $13.5 billion, Intel could see a small uptick.
Intel CFO David Zinsner commented: “Second-quarter results were impacted by gross margin headwinds from the accelerated ramp of our AI PC product, higher than typical charges related to non-core businesses and the impact from unused capacity.”
Previously synonymous with data center chips, Intel has recently been facing stiff competition from AMD, and losing out on business and subsequently subsidizing chip costs has put the company in a troubling situation.
Furthermore, Nvidia’s early entry to the AI chips market has catapulted it to huge successes – earlier this summer it became the third company to hit a market cap of $3 trillion, marking a mammoth increase over where it was two years ago.
TechRadar Pro has asked Intel whether it will be reinstating any further benefits given the sizable reduction in headcount. We are awaiting a response.
Via Tom’s Hardware