Google is clamping down on employee travel, telling some senior managers late last week to limit travel to “business critical” trips, according to an email to managers that was viewed by The Information. The move is a sign of how tech’s once free-spending ways are being discarded as even the most profitable and cash-rich companies take steps to operate more efficiently amid a more difficult economy.

The company told managers it will hold a “high bar” for what should be considered business critical travel. Social functions, full-team offsites and employee travel to in-person events that have a virtual option shouldn’t be approved by Google managers, the email said.