Intel Brings Back Free Coffee and Tea

Intel has brought back free coffee and tea for its employees. Fun! Free coffee and tea were cut earlier as part of a cost reduction program Intel implemented. Intel did not like spending approximately $100 million per year across the company on food and drink perks. They have now rolled the coffee and tea cuts back.

This must be a celebration of Trump winning the election. They probably have some inkling that the Trump administration is going to give them their CHIPS money now so they can afford complimentary coffee and teas. I’m being humorous.

coffee mug

“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.”

https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2024/11/intel-brings-back-workers-free-coffee-seeking-to-stem-declining-morale.html

Right, this is about small comforts and everyone’s daily routines lol

Intel has pissed off its employees so much it has to roll back some of its cuts, that’s just fact. Nobody at Intel is going to leave the company because of the lack of free coffee, but they are going to get angry and discouraged. It’s an incredibly basic thing and Intel was basically saying screw you.

The truth is that complimentary coffee and tea is NOT some wonderful act of altruism. It has a secondary purpose beyond creature comforts, even though that purpose may seem a little bizarre to you at first. Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant and ultimately boosts worker productivity. Caffeine increases alertness, breathing, your heart rate, and physical energy. Tea and coffee are caffeine delivery systems and that’s what businesses like. Productivity is everything after all.

And it’s interesting, societies across time and the world have a history of using various drugs to boost productivity, even if only accidentally. Tobacco, coca leaves, and caffeine have all been used by people to reduce hunger and or boost productivity. The Inca used coca leaves and look at what they got done before the Spanish destroyed their society. Caffeine isn’t as powerful as coca leaves (see cocaine and Coca-Cola) but we all seem to love it just as much as the Incas loved their coca.

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But I don’t really understand why Intel cut coffee and tea in the first place. I mean there is an argument that Intel’s employees are well paid and can afford coffee. But there’s an equal argument, Intel is a relative behemoth and can afford coffee too. It didn’t like spending $100 million per year across its *120,000* employees so it just cut coffee and tea? Really?

I would argue that the whole incident is asinine and Intel sending out a message “you can have your creature comforts back, aren’t we generous, don’t be mad!” is not a message you ever want to send to demoralized employees.

It’s just frickin coffee. This entire thing is a complete waste of time. Look how much time you just wasted reading about coffee! Is this real life?