Intel continues to surprise its employees with cost-cutting measures. After cancelling the contracts for most of its leased vehicles, the company is closing its coffee stations and replacing them with simpler alternatives.

Mobile phone plans for employees not officially entitled to this benefit are also being slashed.

While managers tout this as slashing non-essential activities that do not provide a quick return on investment (ROI), the reality is that such cash is tiny and always the thin layer of snow on the tip of the corporate iceberg of financial woes.

These micro-cuts come on top of the recent closure of Intel Ignite, the company’s highly regarded technological accelerator, is another example, as it was not generating immediate revenue.

Intel has limited places it can cut, and most of its policies do not affect manufacturing workers, as the use of phones is considered essential to their business activities. Intel will continue to finance devices and services for them. In some instances, Intel will also continue to fund devices for marketing personnel in direct contact with customers, IT staff providing critical support, and legal department employees involved in business-critical tasks.

Amusingly, there is a broader dissatisfaction over the discontinuation of free food and beverages.  You can’t really take away a developer’s access to a decent cup of coffee and expect them to pull your company out of woe.