Workplaces supplying food...is this a new thing?

[cabanafrau]

Well, to be fair, "Fortune 500" generally means a publicly traded stock, and shareholders don't take kindly to such use of what is effectively their money. I've seen these benefits concentrated among smaller and more privately-held companies, especially those seeking to attract and retain the best and brightest, leading up to the financial bonanza many expect from an IPO. Typically, when I've seen these benefits in other companies, it is a legacy of some time in the past where they were in that, or a similar circumstance.

True. Most of the "legacy" benefits his company had actually were eliminated decades ago. The paltry few that remained have been gone at least 15 years.

What I find interesting is that there is literally no one we know amongst friends, family, neighbors in this area have these types of benefits, no matter what their working situation.

 

[bicker]

Really? I mean - let's be clear - free coffee is within the category of "these types of benefits". It may be, for many folks, the barest minimum of amenity, but it is surely something that no company is required to provide. Laws do require provision of drinking water, and a lot of people drink coffee like water, but there is no requirement for an office to provide coffee.

 

[golfgal]

DH's old company they would bring food in for "occasions"=usually if they hit monthly goals, etc. In the summer they would often grill hot dogs in the parking lot for people They did have Subway come into the cafeteria daily-you had to pay-but it was nice to have the option onsite. Now with his new company, they take various departments out for lunch on a regular basis but not every day. They do have a Wii, tanning bed, elipitcal and treadmill in their break room though.

Looking at Google's benefits-we have always had most of the "normal" stuff, the insurance, disability, vacation time, etc. That kind of coverage is pretty standard around here. I don't know of any company that has all of the other things though. I think 3M has onsite medical facilities (or they used to way back when my Dad worked for them).

 

[cabanafrau]

Really? I mean - let's be clear - free coffee is within the category of "these types of benefits". It may be, for many folks, the barest minimum of amenity, but it is surely something that no company is required to provide. Laws do require provision of drinking water, and a lot of people drink coffee like water, but there is no requirement for an office to provide coffee.

Well, to parse every word, no. DH's company eliminated coffee 15? years or so ago, even the ability of employees to provide coffeemakers & the coffee themselves. I know of many in this area who no longer have employer supplied coffee. Some are permitted to use company-supplied coffee makers with employee-supplied coffee, some employees can bring in coffeemakers and supplies & some are not permitted. I know of several who are not allowed to bring in coffee by the cup, such as Starbucks, and drink that at their desk.

You are correct, I may know a person or five who still is employed at a company where coffee and coffeemakers are supplied. I stand corrected. Hopefully that will suffice.

 

[golfgal]

Well, to parse every word, no. DH's company eliminated coffee 15? years or so ago, even the ability of employees to provide coffeemakers & the coffee themselves. I know of many in this area who no longer have employer supplied coffee. Some are permitted to use company-supplied coffee makers with employee-supplied coffee, some employees can bring in coffeemakers and supplies & some are not permitted. I know of several who are not allowed to bring in coffee by the cup, such as Starbucks, and drink that at their desk.

You are correct, I may know a person or five who still is employed at a company where coffee and coffeemakers are supplied. I stand corrected. Hopefully that will suffice.

I wonder if this is more of a MI thing (because of the economy there). I can't think of anyone that doesn't have coffee supplied-or in the case of the schools, coffee available. I know the teachers have to contribute to a coffee and water fund here to have it available in the lounge but at least they have an option. I can't think of a single company that doesn't supply coffee.

 

[bicker]

Well, to parse every word, no. DH's company eliminated coffee 15? years or so ago, even the ability of employees to provide coffeemakers & the coffee themselves. I know of many in this area who no longer have employer supplied coffee.

Omg... that's very interesting. I've been working where I'm working now for almost that long, and most employers I've considered moving to are of the meals-provided variety, so it's news to me that so many office environments are no longer being provided with free coffee. That's quite a change in the prototypical American office place.

 

[Tinkermommy]

Both my husband's office and my home office in Boston do not provide coffee for free. There is a coffee machine you pay by the cup. The water cooler is free.

Lots of people I know don't even have free coffee anymore.

 

[cabanafrau]

I wonder if this is more of a MI thing (because of the economy there). I can't think of anyone that doesn't have coffee supplied-or in the case of the schools, coffee available. I know the teachers have to contribute to a coffee and water fund here to have it available in the lounge but at least they have an option. I can't think of a single company that doesn't supply coffee.

Oh, I have no doubt it's economy-driven. What's interesting is it seems to cut through the gamut of work situations -- large corporate offices, retail situations, large & small manufacturing/industrial, medical, accounting, legal, etc.

I won't give details, but let's just say DH's employer actually made the eliminations ahead of the curve with the obvious intention of turning the situation into a revenue stream, not very successfully. More than a decade down the road it's come back with unanticipated consequences & a not very appealing economic climate in which to rebuild the wheel.

 

[diznygirl]

I wonder if this is more of a MI thing (because of the economy there). I can't think of anyone that doesn't have coffee supplied-or in the case of the schools, coffee available. I know the teachers have to contribute to a coffee and water fund here to have it available in the lounge but at least they have an option. I can't think of a single company that doesn't supply coffee.

Could be. In California I can't think of one place that didn't supply at the minimum free coffee. At the max a prepared lunch every day. Most common was a break room full of snacks and sodas. (Gotta tell ya, as a tea drinker I was always miffed that tea bags weren't provided! )

Here in Florida, I've only seen that at one place so far and it's a technology company.

 

[coconutprincess]

No - but I work for a very large company. We get water coolers, that's it. And usually only one per floor. I have a good walk to get to mine. I think the cafeteria we have on site is very overpriced. I can get an au bon pain hot chicken sandiwich cheaper than cold cuts at my company (they use an outside vendor)

 

[AustinTink]

Among all of the friends and family we have in this area I know of no one who gets anything like this kind of perk. There may be the occasional pizzas or other food ordered in in the case of a very exceptional situation, but no, no one I know gets this.

I'm kind of laughing at all of the comments about those in the computer technology field & how common this type of benefit is. DH works in IT for a fortune 500 company, frequently working ridiculously long hours. He is lucky to eat lunch once every two weeks or so away from his desk. Anybody asking about benefits discussed in this thread would either never get the job or be shown the door, period.

Ya'll need to move to Texas. Hubby gets all the perks and is home by 6:30 everyday. These perks are more common in the high tech cities, Austin and the bay area, etc.

 

[Trish Bessette]

I'm in an executive office and we often do training type meetings. WE always have k-cup coffee (15 varieties) with cream, sodas, juices, popcorn, pretzels, frozen cookies that I can bake here in a small oven and candy.

Any meetings we always cater in breakfast and lunch.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my job

 

[Luv Bunnies]

OP here. DH is already seeing the free food as a potential problem. He's lost 36 pounds since August, but managed to gain 2 back after only 2 days at work. He's been staying away from the snacks, but eating more than he normally would for lunch. He realizes it's water gain and not actual fat, but it could be heading there if he's not careful! I told him to stick to the fruit for snacks and maybe take a few frozen meals for days when the free lunch is just too much. Yesterday, it was BBQ ribs and scalloped potatoes!

 

[DWGal210]

We had lunch at my previous job - there were sandwiches, drinks, a hot lunch choice each day, etc. Our boss also was an owner in a restaurant so I think that's where some if the food came from, although it was prepped on site. Maybe I'm really cynical, but I figured at the time it was a ruse benefit since our salaries were very low - I honestly would have rather made a bit more $$ each week than have had a fully stocked kitchen. But I no longer work there, so I don't have to worry about it anymore.

 

[bethbuchall]

Omg... that's very interesting. I've been working where I'm working now for almost that long, and most employers I've considered moving to are of the meals-provided variety, so it's news to me that so many office environments are no longer being provided with free coffee. That's quite a change in the prototypical American office place.

Dh works in a large computer company. They haven't had free coffee since he started working there almost 23 years ago. They used to be able to buy a cup of coffee for a quarter, but that machine is long gone. There are no free drinks or snacks (other than tap water).

 

[SC Minnie]

DH's company provides snacks. They have drinks in the fridge that they are supposed to pay for (50 cents each). There only have 15 ppl in the office and everyone can put in special requests for snacks. They have even complained when the wrong kind of pretzels were bought.

My company provides coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. The executive breakroom has the the kurig type machine that you can make specialty coffees.

 

[Disneychix]

Where I work we have never had any type of coffee or snacks provided, been here 10 years. We get the occasional monthly lunch or holiday fest. Most of our monthly 'group' get togethers are pot-lucks and MAYBE the department will pay for drinks.

DH's job used to have free donuts every week but that got changed to apples when the company tried to get on a health kick! I think even the apples are gone now

 

[Motherofboys]

Oh, I have no doubt it's economy-driven. What's interesting is it seems to cut through the gamut of work situations -- large corporate offices, retail situations, large & small manufacturing/industrial, medical, accounting, legal, etc.

I won't give details, but let's just say DH's employer actually made the eliminations ahead of the curve with the obvious intention of turning the situation into a revenue stream, not very successfully. More than a decade down the road it's come back with unanticipated consequences & a not very appealing economic climate in which to rebuild the wheel.

I totally agree, I am in Michigan too and this is the case across the gamut of jobs (corporate, state agencies, legal, big companies/small companies) no more free anything!

We get free water from a water cooler but that is because the water here is undrinkable. Everyone that I know has to "coffee pool" at work or provide their own. I had to provide my own machine and pool with others for coffee and any supplies.

Every expense has been cut to bare bones!

 

[cabanafrau]

Ya'll need to move to Texas. Hubby gets all the perks and is home by 6:30 everyday. These perks are more common in the high tech cities, Austin and the bay area, etc.

Actually, DH's company has a major presence in Texas. To our knowledge the situation is the same there, as are the expectations regarding work hours.

 

[agnes!]

I wouldn't say it is new, but I would say it is more commonplace, especially for those who work extended hours. The company my wife works for brings in food whenever they expect to work late.

It is fairly common in computer / software companies... especially quickly growing ones.

You should read what Google does for their employees!

I saw a show on this. All I can say is Those are some lucky ducks!!!

I have two close relatives who work for Google at their HQ...man, I went into the wrong line of work.

agnes!