GeekMBA360

Almost every technology company is cutting costs now. Below is a list of cost-cutting moves I, my friends, and industry contacts have experienced:

1. Lay off employees
2. Raise insurance premium by 200%, and essentially force employees to enroll in Health Saving Account (HSA) based health insurance plan
3. Instead of getting more office space, squeeze more employees per square foot in existing office space
4. Re-negotiate office rent with property owners
5. Have holiday party on-site instead of renting space in hotel/restaurant
6. Re-negotiate with suppliers/vendors to extend payment terms (e.g. making payment at net-45 instead of net-30)
7. Re-negotiate with suppliers/vendors to lower payment amount
8. Close certain local offices
9. Ask employees to take mandatory time off between Christmas and New Year
10. Cut down business travels
11. Stop hiring contractors
12. Re-negotiate telephone rate
13. Re-negotiate data center rate
14. Freeze hardware purchase; free up existing hardware resources

Do you have anything to add to this list? Leave a comment.

I’m OKAY with most of those cost saving moves except the first two.

None of us likes layoffs. But, I think some entrepreneurs/managements might under-estimate the impact of cutting health care — it affects employees and their families. It could get quite ugly from a morale standpoint. Before you cut health care, think carefully.