Big Tech's vanishing perks have left employees to face a stark new reality

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Boo! Did I scare you? If not, possibly this will astonishment you: Microsoft disclosed an equity finance successful OpenAI for nan first time, SEC filings show. It could hint astatine an improvement successful their relationship, arsenic nan tech elephantine antecedently described their woody arsenic "a semipermanent partnership" successful filings.

In today's large story, Big Tech is pulling backmost connected the freebies for its employees.

What's connected deck:

• Markets: Reddit's banal had a monster time thanks to a beardown net report.
• Tech: Tesla's trial drivers talk astir pushing nan limits of self-driving software.
• Business: We outlined what Trump and Harris' policies mean for your taxation bill.

But first, is this free?

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The large story

No free lunches successful tech

Use it. Don't maltreatment it.

That's nan difficult instruction tech workers are learning astir their jobs' free perks, Business Insider's Lara O'Reilly, Rob Price, Hugh Langley, and Sydney Bradley write.

After years of upping nan ante pinch everything from workout classes to laundry services, tech companies are clamping down connected nan freebies. It's portion of a broader push to trim costs crossed nan industry.

Those efforts took halfway shape precocious erstwhile Meta fired labor for misusing Grubhub credits. Instead of buying food, group utilized nan perk for things for illustration laundry detergent and vino glasses.

Employees everyplace person been known to crook nan rules pinch activity benefits. A Citibank worker was fired aft expensing business travel meals he yet admitted were for his partner.

The quality for tech mightiness beryllium really wide nan perks are. Tech companies person gone retired of their measurement to afloat subsidize almost everything for their employees.

It's not charity. The perks thief enlistee and clasp talent and support labor moving astatine nan office. (Free luncheon astatine nan agency intends much clip spent moving there.)

A tech giant's pullback connected 1 activity perk is causing an uproar.

Amazon's caller return-to-office mandate, which requires labor successful nan agency 5 days a week, continues to look pushback from its workforce.

More than 500 labor signed a missive sent to Amazon Web Services' CEO Matt Garman criticizing his support of nan policy, BI's Jyoti Mann and Ashley Stewart write.

While speaking astatine an all-hands earlier this month, Garman said 9 retired of 10 Amazonians he said to were "actually rather excited astir this change." Remote activity made it harder to innovate and collaborate, he added.

Some Amazon labor aren't buying it. In nan missive to Garman, they said nan deficiency of difficult numbers backing up nan determination "fail to execute our modular of determination making for captious issues."

The existent benefits and downsides of distant activity are difficult to nail down. Some studies person shown workers are much productive erstwhile moving from home. Another conducted past twelvemonth recovered remote activity tin stifle innovation.

It's not each bad news for Amazon employees, though. When contacted by BI astir nan letter, a institution spokesperson said successful immoderate cases Amazon would connection resources to labor for illustration elder attraction and pet sitters.

In different words, perks.

News brief

Top headlines

• A caller study shows that Americans work together connected more than they're consenting to admit.
• Two large Fidelity costs ain much than $100 cardinal successful OpenAI stock, filings show.
• Why Tesla's income are slipping successful California, and what it intends for Elon Musk's car company.
• Dropbox lays disconnected 20% of labor and joins Big Tech's flattening trend. Read CEO Drew Houston's memo.
• Starbucks CEO's scheme to hole nan concatenation includes coffee successful 4 minutes and comfy chairs.
• Gaming elephantine Take-Two is successful talks to sell its Chartboost adtech division.
• Polymarket's pro-Trump predetermination predictions aren't truthful astonishing when you look astatine nan remainder of nan site.

3 things successful markets

1. Reddit banal skyrockets to grounds high. The platform's banal surged 42% Wednesday aft a beardown net hit fueled enthusiasm. Its gross jumped 68% from a twelvemonth ago, partially acknowledgment to AI licensing deals pinch Google and OpenAI.
2. Semiconductor stocks struggle. An scale search nan assemblage dropped 3% Wednesday. Super Micro Computer was successful a free autumn aft its auditor resigned from moving pinch it, saying it could "no longer beryllium capable to trust connected management's and nan Audit Committee's representations."
3. The US user won't backmost down. Bad news: US existent GDP fell short of expectations, increasing astatine an annualized complaint of 2.8% past 4th compared to a 3% forecast. Good news: The spot of nan US user continues, arsenic individual depletion expenditures grew astatine a 3.7% annualized rate.

3 things successful tech

1. Inside Tesla's autonomous-driving testing program. In mentation for its early of autonomous vehicles, Tesla has been leaning connected a specialized group of trial drivers, portion of what's known internally arsenic "Project Rodeo." BI said pinch 9 trial drivers, who described sometimes perilous scenarios and near-crashes while testing unreleased software.
2. Meta and Microsoft reported earnings. While Meta missed expectations for personification maturation (notching 3.29 cardinal regular progressive users alternatively of nan expected 3.31 billion), its $40.59 cardinal successful revenue hit estimates. Microsoft likewise surpassed analysts' expectations arsenic it continues to put heavy successful AI.
3. Intel's nary good, very bad year. In 2023, immoderate Intel labor received salary cuts to trim costs and debar layoffs. In August 2024, nan institution announced it would shed 15,000 labor via voluntary separation agreements and layoffs. BI said pinch 8 existent and erstwhile labor about Intel's twelvemonth of "setbacks."

3 things successful business

1. What a Harris aliases Trump triumph intends for your taxes. Regardless of who wins adjacent week, you'll astir apt spot a alteration to your taxation measure successful 2025 — Trump's taxation plans could mean increases for little earners; Harris' proposals would target higher earners. Meanwhile, some person projected immoderate type of nixing taxes connected tips.
2. Some Amazon labor support Jeff Bezos' arguable WaPo decision. Internal messages viewed by BI uncover worker section complete his determination to extremity statesmanlike endorsements by nan Washington Post. While immoderate commended nan move, others questioned Bezos' motives and timing.
3. Inside nan conflict for power of America's location listings. Open up Zillow, Redfin, aliases immoderate of their competitors, and you'll person a near-complete image of each nan homes for waste successful nan country. Real estate's powerfulness players want to alteration that. They're fighting each different for control, but it's consumers who guidelines to lose.

What's happening today

• Apple, Amazon, Intel, and different companies study earnings.
• Happy Halloween!

The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, lawman editor and anchor, successful New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, successful New York. Hallam Bullock, elder editor, successful London. Milan Sehmbi, fellow, successful London.