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If you were to question the average worker as to what their preference would be between getting a few of their perks cut back on at work or losing their job entirely, my guess would be that an overwhelming majority of the workers you questioned would choose the first option as being the better one. To this end, if you cut back on employee perks at your business, you might be able to save enough money that you would not have to then take the more drastic step of laying off workers.

Employee perks are surprisingly expensive when they are added up. Things like expense accounts for the management and supplies like water and refreshments for the basic workers can become very pricey over time but since they add to morale and therefore increase overall productivity, companies do not really pay attention to such things in the middle of good economic times. However, in bad economic times most workers would understand that morale is a secondary concern to preserving their job and therefore would go along with cuts made by the employer to perks.

If you can convince your workers that these cuts are in their best interest because they will save jobs from being terminated, then you should definitely try this strategy before you start firing people. Aside from the obvious moral implications of mass layoffs at any company, it is a massive change in the structure and that can easily destabilize the finances of a company that has not achieved maturity.