They could just do something similar to what colleges do:
- increase salaries just a bit
- but the increased salary goes to a food card
- employees can't easily turn this into cash
- you swipe it and "pay"
- the company is essentially paying for the employee's food
Money changes hands, but no one is at a net loss than what a free food perk would cost.
It's not about the money.
They literally cannot fathom that people in tech are trying to squeeze the most from every minute in the day.
Just. Do. Not. Get. It.
Don't do that. It hurts. You.
If I stop for lunch, I stop, and don't get back into it.
So I eat lunch at my desk. It's not bad for me. 10 hour days to accomplish half the work is bad.
Once I get into productive mode I'd rather not get out of it until I'm finished, and leaving my desk for more than a few minutes, or having to concentrate of complex tasks like talking to someone at a counter, is sure to do that.
Tell that to the farmer who's crops go bad.
Not everything is the same.
Instead you can spend that time being both grateful and productive
If you really want to avoid leaving the building at all costs, there is also another option: ordering your lunch and let it be delivered.
So, a half-hour round trip.
None of them included giving employees perks in the hope that it will increase their productivity.
By "their", you mean the company? Because employees receive the same salary no matter their productivity.
Slavers also fed their slaves, property requires upkeep costs.
No, in fact they typically do not. Drop your productivity to zero and see how your salary holds up.
Non-financial compensations are taxed in many countries, I really don't see what's wrong here.
(It is worse for the employee, of course.)
If it's the former, then I think it's still "free food".
If it's the latter, then it removes much of the benefit of the company providing the meal -- keeping employees on-campus and near their desks longer. I like my company's free food since it's easy to walk down the hall and eat a quick lunch between meetings, no need to take an hour to head off campus to a local restaurant. I don't care that the food is "free", but that it's fast and convenient.
Example: Currently living in Switzerland, which has "Lunch cheques" [0]. Employees don't pay income tax on their value, employers don't pay social security on their value, local restaurants/takeaways get more customers.