A while back Facebook executives decided that all computer accessories at their headquarters and various offices should be “checked out” by an employee, thus allowing them to track expenditures more efficiently. Unfortunately that plan had backfired with employees grabbing various computer parts and never signing the needed forms, a practice that has not come to an end thanks to Facebook vending machines.
The idea was apparently thought up when an employee spotted iPod vending machines at an airport and thought it would be a great way to track company inventory since records for office equipment acquisitions were “practically non-existent” and “actually non-existent” with only 5% of employees signing out free equipment.
Under the program Facebook employees must now swipe their name badge at which point they will receive free computer accessories as needed, while executives can try to figure out why “John Programmer” is using 11 keyboards a day.
With an IPO surely on the horizon tracking every little expense is important and Facebook is definitely doing a great job in that respect if they are running the rest of their office like they are their accessories check-out.
Here’s a picture of the vending machine in action:
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