Last month, Salesforce announced it would stop covering gender-affirming surgery for employees in its health plans. The move affects hundreds of trans workers and comes just weeks after the company reported $2.6 billion in quarterly profits. It’s not an isolated incident. Across Silicon Valley, companies are quietly gutting benefits that were once selling points for top talent—while posting record earnings in public filings.

The cuts aren’t random. Employees at Meta, Google, and Amazon say their companies have quietly raised health insurance deductibles by 30% or more in the past year. Parental leave policies that once offered six months of paid time off now cap at two weeks in some divisions. Even retirement benefits are under attack: at least half a dozen major tech firms have slashed their 401(k) matching contributions by 50% or more since 2023, according to internal documents leaked to The Verge.

Why companies say they’re doing this

Executives claim the cuts are about ‘long-term sustainability’ or ‘adjusting to market conditions.’ Microsoft told staff in an internal memo that reducing 401(k) matches would ‘help fund future growth initiatives.’ Google pointed to ‘global economic uncertainty’ when it rolled back parental leave expansions last quarter. But the timing is suspicious. Tech giants posted combined profits of $127 billion in Q1 2024—up 15% from the same period last year.

Workers aren’t buying the excuses. ‘They’re not making sacrifices—they’re making choices,’ said Rina Patel, a software engineer at Salesforce who’s been tracking benefit changes since 2020. She crunched numbers showing her company’s health plan now costs her $1,200 more per year than in 2022, while profits jumped 22% in the same period. ‘When you’re profitable, you don’t balance budgets on employees’ backs.’

The human cost of cost-cutting

The cuts hit hardest where employees are already struggling. At Amazon, warehouse workers report deductibles so high they skip doctor visits for minor issues. A mother at Meta said she returned from maternity leave to find her childcare stipend slashed by 40%. Retirement plan reductions mean engineers who planned to retire at 55 now face working into their 60s.

Even white-collar workers feel the squeeze. A Google employee in New York said her company froze promotions for six months to ‘redirect funds’—while CEO Sundar Pichai took home $226 million last year. ‘They’re not hurting for options,’ she said. ‘They’re choosing to hurt us.’

When did this start?

The trend began quietly in 2022 when stock prices tanked and companies froze hiring. But by 2023, layoffs became the headline. Now, even profitable firms are quietly dismantling benefits—what labor experts call ‘stealth austerity.’ ‘First they fire people, then they nickel-and-dime the ones left,’ said Heather Boushey, chief economist at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. ‘It’s a way to squeeze more productivity out of workers without admitting they’re under pressure.’

What happens next

Employees are fighting back. At Amazon, warehouse workers in Alabama filed petitions demanding the company restore its $2-an-hour wage hike that was rolled back in 2023. At Google, engineers circulated a petition demanding transparency on benefit cuts, gathering 1,200 signatures before management shut it down. Lawsuits are mounting: a class-action suit against Salesforce alleges the company violated state health insurance laws by dropping gender-affirming care coverage.

Regulators aren’t idle either. The U.S. Department of Labor is probing whether some tech firms misled workers about the true cost of their benefit cuts. And investors are starting to ask questions. ‘When you see a company cutting benefits while boosting share buybacks, it’s a red flag,’ said Aswath Damodaran, a finance professor at NYU Stern. ‘It suggests priorities are out of whack.’

The message to workers is clear: don’t expect loyalty in return for a paycheck. Companies will cut what they can to maximize profits—even if it means workers pay the price.

What You Need to Know

  • Source: Wired
  • Published: May 15, 2026 at 15:00 UTC
  • Category: Technology
  • Topics: #wired · #tech · #science · #companies-keep-slashing · #employees · #benefits

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Curated by GlobalBR News · May 15, 2026

🇧🇷 Resumo em Português

Empresas de tecnologia que faturaram bilhões em 2024 estão reduzindo benefícios essenciais como plano de saúde, licença parental e contribuições para aposentadoria, deixando funcionários em uma situação de abandono diante de lucros recordes.

A notícia ganha contornos ainda mais relevantes no Brasil, onde o setor de tecnologia tem crescido aceleradamente, atraindo profissionais com promessas de bons pacotes de benefícios. No entanto, a prática de cortes em benefícios — comum em empresas estrangeiras, mas ainda pouco disseminada no mercado brasileiro — pode se espalhar por aqui, especialmente em multinacionais que operam com políticas globais. A tendência levanta discussões sobre a sustentabilidade desse modelo, que coloca o peso da crise econômica sobre os ombros dos trabalhadores enquanto os acionistas seguem lucrando.

Se confirmada, essa mudança pode redefinir as relações de trabalho no setor, forçando profissionais a reavaliar suas expectativas e pressionando empresas a buscar alternativas para reter talentos.

🇪🇸 Resumen en Español

Las grandes tecnológicas recortan prestaciones clave a sus empleados, como sanidad privada o permisos parentales, pese a registrar ganancias históricas en 2024. Mientras los balances de gigantes como Google, Meta o Microsoft baten récords, la plantilla observa cómo sus ventajas laborales se evaporan sin justificación aparente.

El fenómeno refleja un cambio de estrategia en el sector: tras años de retórica sobre el “talento como prioridad”, ahora prima la contención de costes ante la ralentización de la IA y la presión de los mercados. Para los hispanohablantes, especialmente en España y Latinoamérica, esto envía un mensaje preocupante sobre la estabilidad laboral en un ámbito que hasta ahora prometía salarios altos y beneficios generosos, pero que ahora prioriza el beneficio accionarial sobre el bienestar de sus trabajadores.