Intel: Our finances are in the toilet, we're laying off 15K, but the free coffee is back!

Struggling chip giant Intel has rescinded a cost-cutting plan to abolish free coffee and tea for its staff.

Intel is on an spending-slashing crusade at the moment, with a plan to bin about 15,000 staff to help right its financials. Just last month, it laid off 2,000 staff (1,300 of them from its Hillsboro, Oregon site) and announced big cuts in staff perks earlier in the year.

Among the cost-cutting measures, the much-cherished sabbatical that Intel staffers could get after four years has now been eliminated, and while staff will still get one every seven years, its duration has been halved to just a month off, The Oregonian reports.

Stock rewards have been reduced, there are no more free personal trainers at the gym for staff, there's no more fresh fruit in the office (unless you bring it yourself), the Intel air shuttle flying between Oregon, California, and Arizona has been shuttered, and the x86 titan said it would no longer have free tea and coffee in the office.

“Until we get into a better financial health position, we need to be suspending those,” Intel's chief people officer Christy Pambianchi told staff at the start of this week, adding that the chipmaker was spending about $100 million annually on free and discounted food and beverages. But Intel has now rescinded the ban on free tea and coffee in the office, since it seems that was a step too far.

“Although Intel still faces cost challenges, we understand that small comforts play a significant role in our daily routines,” Intel wrote on its internal messaging forum, called Circuit. “We know this is a small step, but we hope it is a meaningful one in supporting our workplace culture.”

• Intel losses hit $16.6B in Q3 and Wall Street is … loving it?
• Intel to shed at least 15% of staff, will outsource more to TSMC, slash $10B in costs
• Intel lets go of 2,000 staff at Oregon R&D site, offices in Texas, Arizona, California

So it seems you can take a tech worker's stock options, sabbatical, and gym time, but taking away their caffeine is unthinkable for Intel workers. Or perhaps this is just a cheap way to make it seem like Intel is giving something back.

But this is a wider issue across the tech industry. As the explosive early growth of the sector slows and shareholders get antsy, benefits in the sector are reduced. Some are still feeling flush enough to provide free food and drink, and the need for economies is making such perks increasingly untenable.

But coffee is a line that can't be crossed, it seems. ®