Source: No food fights on the way at Google
There's no reason to panic at Google over the rumor that the perks-happy tech giant would be cutting back on free food for employees, we hear.
A source close to the company told CNET News that the rumors are really just spin over a small management decision. Google isn't depriving employees of dinner, the source explained. The issue was that several smaller eating establishments at the company's Silicon Valley campus had been seeing low attendance at dinner, and so their evening food service will be consolidated into a smaller number of cafeterias. The source said that steps are going to be taken so that nobody has to hike too much further to reach an open mess hall.
Additionally, the change does not affect any Google offices other than its main campus in Mountain View, Calif. Their cafeteria lineups will not change.
Google declined to confirm the source's information. "We are committed to Googlers and providing them a great working environment, but we don't comment on internal specifics," a PR representative told CNET News.
The change could be due to one of a few things: cost-effectiveness, or a legitimate issue with underattendance. Or, as one of my colleagues speculated, Googlers could've been picking up mass quantities of food and driving it home to their families.
Tastier than Boston Market--and free. You know you'd take advantage of it, too.
Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos. E-mail Caroline. 
Is this even considered "news"?
- by NewsReader_ August 25, 2008 3:25 PM PDT
- I heard they are using a different strategy to save costs...
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(3 Comments)To deter people from eating too much free food, they are switching toliet paper from Charmin to the contents of the recycle bins in the copy rooms.
You can expect a lot of thinner Google employees after a few months of being forced to use 8.5" x 11" sheets :-). Either that or I would buy some stock in whoever makes Preparation H.