What is the most petty way a place you worked at tried to save a few bucks?

I knew property management offices that were down town... where there was no parking, decide to save a buck by not providing parking to people like security guards and custodians. the kind of people who aren't paid enough to be able to afford 100-200 a month just to work for them (and who can absolutely get the same job closer to home,)

the kind of people who 1) talk with people, and 2) just made sure that nobody was going to replace them when they left. ooops.

I worked for a corporation which took out hand sanitizers from around the office in an attempt to save cost. They did this not long before COVID happened too, which was ironic.

They also got rid of rubbish bins for the same reasons, you had to go all the way to the kitchen to throw your trash. Minor inconveniences, but we're talkinag about petty cash for a business that size.

I worked at an HCA hospital that got rid of disposable wipes and instead wanted nurses to clean up bowel movements with washcloths that went into the laundry. Most people just threw the washcloths in the trash.

I work at a fortune 500 company that's doing all sorts of things to reduce costs. One of those things was taking down all the clocks. So now we just have off-white-yellow circles near the ceilings throughout the office.

I worked at a record label back in the 90s who took money out of my check for the horrendous coffee and powdered creamer they provided. I only drank the coffee for effect seeing as it tasted like stale chickory that a grandmother might brew. In her colon.

Anyhow, I opted out of drinking that shitty coffee after a couple of weeks and literally only spend a couple dollars more getting Starbucks on my way in.

The company where I work decided to stop company bus program.

So, employees have to group up and pay for bus transportation by themselves, or go to work by their own vehicle.

Which mean, pay for transport out of pocket.

The company save some cost and shift that cost to worker. (usually more than what it cost the company, because economic of scale)

It feel like you having a pay cut without having a pay cut.

Pizza places (multiple companies) would “pick the pits” where the toppings that fell off the pizzas into the make line where put back. Sauce from a can was scraped with a spatula because that added up to a full pizza’s worth of sauce after two gallons of sauce.

A retail job I had would not let employees use self checkout at any store (even if they where not at the one they worked at) due to a fear of theft. The customers of course used the self checkout for theft.

I worked in the corporate office at a bank in 2008-2009 and they stopped all landscaping , which included no longer mowing the large field out front. Everyone thought we had gone out of business because it was so overgrown and they would call to ask if we closed. We also started having issues with snakes and mice on the first floor. Eventually they had some guys come mow and we watched out the window as mice scattered in every direction.

Had a place start charging $2 to use the microwave (built in to the front console of the microwave).

I worked for a big three-letter computer company that:

• wouldn't buy coffee, tea, or milk for the tearoom -- we organised a club and paid $2 a week to buy them ourselves
• didn't have rubbish bins in the office. All rubbish (including company confidential printouts) was to be taken out to the street and put in public bins on the pavement
• took out every second fluorescent tube in the office to save on power
• laid off nearly 100,000 staff because they only made US $6b that year