> I've read one of the easiest ways to break moral in an office is to simply take away the snacks

For me this is indication of cost cutting going into effect. This means it's time to stop riding a dead horse and to start looking for a live one.

This, it's either the first sign of larger problems or a sign of a significant culture shift, either way it signals that change that is likely for the worse is coming so it might be time to leave before it gets worse.

Steve Blank wrote about this: https://steveblank.com/2009/12/21/the-elves-leave-middle-ear...

I like the one who suggested the answer to the question of how much the free drinks cost should be "less than the cost of hiring a single engineer".

Used to work at an office where they got rid of free drinks. The morning it happened, Top Engineer 1 sent a mail to all Boston staff announcing he was thirsty and asked if anyone else was similarly thirsty and wanted to join him on a grocery trip to buy soda. Three cars full of engineers went to the grocery store, taking a little over an hour. Free drinks returned later that same week.

Right, the whole point of free food/drinks was the keep the engineer from wanting to leave the office. It was not really a perk but a way to entice the employee to working more.

This exact event happened at both Cisco and Juniper when they got rid of free drinks. Multiple times.

I love that guy.

Exactly. A lot of people think, if the company is so tight or so stingy (whichever the case may be) they can't afford bagels anymore, it might behoove me to search for work elsewhere.

To be honest one of awesome things for work at home is it prompted to me to finally setup a half decent bagel at home routine. And nice coffee, weak and fifty percent milk, just like I like it. I am looking forward to 4 pm tea time informal chats with friends, two days a week, shortly.

You can watch the snacks, but I check the TP quality. Easy to verify before you start as well.

TP?

Toilet paper, I think.