Staplers, tape and fitness classes are some items that tech giant Google will cut back on in order to reduce costs.

Reducing the frequency of laptop replacements is also on the company’s agenda, according to CNBC, which reported that Google made these announcements in a companywide e-mail sent by its chief finance officer Ruth Porat on March 31.

In her e-mail, Ms Porat said: “Today’s devices have a much longer lifespan and greater performance and reliability, so we have made changes to what’s available and how often it’s replaced – while making sure that people have what they need to perform their role. Because equipment is a significant expense for a company of our size, we’ll be able to save meaningfully here.

“We set a high bar for industry-leading perks, benefits and office amenities, and will continue that into the future. However, some programmes need to evolve for how Google works today. As well as helping to bring down costs, these changes will reduce food waste and be better for the environment.”

Other employee services such as cafes and shuttle services would also see adjustments made due to lower usage volume on days when employees are more likely to work from home.

CNBC also said, quoting a separate internal document from Google’s real estate and workplace team: “Now that most of us are in three days a week, we’ve noticed our supply/demand ratios are a bit out of sync: We’ve baked too many muffins on a Monday, seen GBuses run with just one passenger, and offered yoga classes on a Friday afternoon when folks are more likely to be working from home.”

The announcement follows in the wake of news that Google’s parent company Alphabet would be cutting 12,000 of its global workforce, citing slowing sales growth that was unable to keep up with record hiring numbers.

The layoffs, Ms Porat said in her e-mail, were “the hardest decisions we’ve had to make as a company”.

She also elaborated on other additional cost-cutting measures which Google would undertake.

“There are other areas we’ve spoken about that will make a big difference: We’re continuing to redeploy teams to higher-priority work, to maintain a slower pace of hiring, to be responsible about our travel and expense spending,” she said.

The tech industry has seen widespread job cuts, with Facebook’s parent company Meta, Amazon and Microsoft also posting large-scale layoffs in recent months.

At least 160,000 employees across over 550 tech firms have been laid off, according to layoffs.fyi, a website that tracks tech industry layoffs.