The current economic landscape is putting tremendous pressure on executives, with no signs of slowing down. From inflation to tariffs to supply chain disruptions, the challenges are everywhere — and they touch virtually every corner of business.
Even more troubling? Everyone’s looking to you to keep costs in check while still fostering growth and innovation. Which means you need new ways to do more with less — fast.
ActivTrak is here to help. We’ve pulled together 17 cost cutting measures to build more financial resilience, based on success stories from the 9,500+ business leaders using our workforce analytics software. Don’t think of these as cost-cutting measures, but rather strategies for reducing waste, optimizing resources and positioning your organization for long-term stability.
Ready to get started? Let’s dive right in.
17 Business Cost Saving Strategies for 2025 and Beyond
1. Cancel unnecessary software licenses
Most businesses accumulate software subscriptions over time, many of which are underused or completely forgotten. This SaaS sprawl may seem innocuous on the surface but drain thousands from your budget each year. Reducing SaaS costs frees those funds for bigger priorities.
Start by conducting a comprehensive audit of all software tools and platforms your company pays for. Identify:
- Applications with overlapping functionality
- Tools with low user adoption rates
- Licenses for former employees that haven’t been deactivated
- Premium features teams pay for but rarely use
Better yet, consider implementing a centralized software management system to track usage patterns and renewal dates. This visibility helps prevent automatic renewals for tools that no longer serve your needs and allows you to identify opportunities for consolidations or downgrades.
2. Hone in on miscellaneous spending
Do you have a lot of “one-off” expenses? These miscellaneous costs — equipment repairs, team events, emergency purchases — add up significantly over time. Although they represent substantial savings opportunities, they often fly under the radar during budget reviews.
Create specific categories to track these seemingly random expenses, looking for patterns that might indicate inefficiencies. For instance, if you notice frequent maintenance costs for aging equipment, see if a replacement is more cost-effective. Or you may discover team celebrations occur more frequently than thought, allowing you to streamline monthly gatherings into quarterly events.
Grouping and analyzing these expenses allows you to identify surprising cost-saving opportunities that would otherwise remain hidden in your “miscellaneous” budget line.
3. Evaluate company perks
Employee benefits are crucial for attracting and retaining talent, but not all perks deliver equal value. Review your company’s offerings to ensure you’re investing in benefits people actually use and appreciate.
For example, if your team rarely uses the on-site gym, consider repurposing or eliminating it to maximize real estate investments. Is your employee discount program participation rate low? Dig a little deeper to see if it still justifies the administrative expenses.
When in doubt, ask employees. Find out which perks they value most, then redirect resources from underutilized benefits to those with the greatest impact on employee engagement and retention.
4. Encourage remote work
The shift to remote and hybrid work presents significant cost-saving opportunities. If you allow people to work from home some or all of the time, calculate office space utilization to ensure the right ratio of square footage to employees. This one move alone often saves thousands — or even tens of thousands — in lower rent and office space utilities, fewer office supplies and lighter maintenance costs.
A thoughtful remote work strategy typically includes:
- Downsizing to a smaller office space
- Implementing hoteling or hot-desking systems for hybrid workers
- Reducing utility consumption and associated costs
- Decreasing spending on office supplies and amenities
Beyond these direct savings, remote work often leads to improved employee productivity.
5. Implement process improvements
Inefficient processes waste both time and money. But how do you know if — and where — it’s happening among your teams? While there are multiple methods for improving processes, the best way to start is often with a simple audit. Begin by mapping your current processes to identify bottlenecks, redundancies, and pain points. Look for:
- Tasks requiring excessive approvals or handoffs
- Duplicate work performed across departments
- Manual processes that could be automated
- Steps that consistently cause delays
Even small improvements yield significant savings when applied to frequently-performed processes. For example, streamlining a daily workflow to save each team member just 15 minutes ultimately recovers hundreds of productive hours annually across your organization.
6. Get rid of unnecessary meetings
Few things drain productivity and morale faster than excessive, ineffective meetings. The hidden cost is substantial — when you gather six employees for an hour-long meeting, you’re investing six hours of cumulative work time. Evaluate your organization’s meeting culture by asking:
- Does each meeting have a clear purpose and agenda?
- Could the information be communicated effectively in another format?
- Are all invitees truly needed?
- Could most 60-minute meetings wrap up within 30 minutes?
Use your findings to implement a company-wide “meeting diet.” U.S. organizations lose nearly $400 billion to disorganized meetings — scaling back allows you to instantly recover hundreds of productive hours. Try designating meeting-free days or dedicated deep work time blocks, and establish clear guidelines for when meetings are truly necessary.
7. Improve employee performance
Maximizing productivity doesn’t mean pushing employees to work harder — it’s about helping them get more done in less time. When team members make the most of every work hour, you effectively reduce cost per output. Focus on creating conditions where employees do their best work:
- Minimize distractions and interruptions
- Provide the right tools and training
- Match tasks to individual strengths and skills
- Encourage employees to use more focus time
By empowering employees to work how and when they’re most efficient, the entire business benefits from peak productivity periods. This approach not only reduces business costs but also improves performance and work quality.
8. Look for productivity savings
Beyond individual productivity, examine how your team’s collective output compares to the resources you’ve invested. This will open the door to larger productivity savings as you uncover new ways to deliver the same or better results with fewer inputs.
Not sure where to start? Use productivity measurement software for powerful insights about your team’s productivity patterns. Then use the data to answer questions such as:
- Which projects deliver the most value relative to time invested?
- Are certain tasks consuming disproportionate resources?
- Where do bottlenecks consistently occur?
- How does productivity vary by time, location or work arrangements?
Then use your findings to reallocate resources to high-value activities and redesign workflows to eliminate friction.
9. Incorporate automation where possible
Automation technologies are increasingly accessible — and deliver substantial cost savings. Look for opportunities to automate routine, repetitive tasks such as:
- Data entry and processing
- Report generation
- Email responses and follow-ups
- Scheduling and calendar management
- Basic customer service inquiries
Even partial automation yields significant savings. For example, an AI-powered tool might handle the initial sorting and routing of customer requests, allowing your team to focus on more complex problem-solving rather than administrative triage.
10. Identify untapped capacity
Before adding headcount — one of the biggest business expenses today — ensure you’re maximizing the potential of your existing workforce. Most organizations have significant untapped capacity hidden within their current teams. Use workforce analytics to identify:
- Team members who consistently have bandwidth for additional projects
- Skill sets that aren’t fully utilized
- Time periods with predictable capacity fluctuations
- Opportunities to redistribute workloads more evenly
Identifying and leveraging untapped capacity allows you to meet increased demands without the substantial expense of recruiting, hiring and onboarding new employees.
11. Opt for freelancers over full-time employees
While freelancers typically command higher hourly rates than employees, they’re remarkably cost-effective for many business needs. Without the overhead of benefits, office space, equipment, and long-term commitments, contingent workers offer better value for specific projects or seasonal demands. Consider using freelancers for:
- Specialized skills needed only occasionally
- Projects with defined endpoints
- Work with fluctuating volume
- Roles that don’t require deep institutional knowledge
This approach provides financial flexibility by allowing you to scale resources up or down as needed, without the fixed costs of full-time employment.
12. Streamline hiring and onboarding
The time between identifying a hiring need and training a fully productive team member represents a significant business expense. Streamlining these processes is another quick way to reduce costs and accelerate time to value for new employees. Focus on:
- Shortening the candidate evaluation timeline
- Standardizing interview processes to reduce scheduling delays
- Creating efficient onboarding materials and checklists
- Setting clear expectations and milestones for new hires
The faster new team members reach full productivity, the sooner your organization experiences ROI on hiring investments.
13. Invest in training and development
While training might sound like an expense, strategic employee development delivers substantial cost benefits. Well-trained employees work more efficiently, make fewer costly mistakes and take on additional responsibilities. Look for opportunities to design training programs that:
- Reduce the need for additional headcount
- Lower recruiting costs by preparing internal candidates for advancement
- Decrease turnover by showing investment in employee growth
- Improve operational efficiency and output quality
Developing your existing talent pool allows you to create a more adaptable, capable workforce — and accomplish more with the same resources.
14. Prioritize employee well-being
Burnout and poor work-life balance ultimately create significant costs through decreased productivity, increased errors, higher turnover and elevated healthcare expenses. Monitoring employee well-being isn’t just good for your team — it benefits the bottom line. Consider implementing:
- Reasonable workloads and expectations
- Flexible scheduling options
- Mental health resources and support
- Regular check-ins on stress and satisfaction levels
Organizations that support employee well-being typically experience lower absenteeism, reduced turnover costs and sustained productivity — all of which contribute to better financial performance.
15. Renegotiate vendor contracts
Many organizations miss savings opportunities by allowing vendor relationships to run on autopilot. To uncover even more potential cost reductions — without changing your operations — regularly review and renegotiate vendor contracts. When approaching vendor negotiations:
- Research current market rates for similar services
- Identify opportunities to consolidate purchases for better volume pricing
- Look for unnecessary features or services
- Consider multi-year commitments in exchange for rate reductions
Even long-standing vendor relationships benefit from periodic reevaluation. The key is to ensure you’re receiving competitive pricing and appropriate value.
16. Reduce business travel
While some in-person interactions remain valuable, many virtual meetings are just as effective. Thoughtfully limiting business travel removes the burden of ever-increasing airfare, accommodation, meal and transportation expenses.
Establish clear guidelines for when travel is truly necessary versus when virtual meetings suffice. When travel makes sense, implement policies to encourage cost-conscious choices without compromising safety or reasonable comfort.
17. End unprofitable client contracts and products
Sometimes the most effective cost-saving strategy is simply stopping activities without adequate returns. Conduct a thorough analysis of your product or service offerings to identify items that consistently underperform financially. Evaluate:
- Production and delivery costs
- Market position and growth trajectory
- Strategic importance beyond direct profitability
While discontinuing offerings can be difficult, reallocating those resources to more profitable areas often yields substantial financial improvement.
Identify business cost saving opportunities with ActivTrak
Ready to put cost-saving strategies into action and propel your business forward in 2025? ActivTrak is here to help. Our workforce analytics software provides the visibility you need to improve efficiency and reduce expenses. More than 9,500 business leaders use it to:
- Uncover workflow inefficiencies that drive up costs
- Monitor technology to identify unused apps
- Quantify the impact of remote and hybrid work arrangements
- Pinpoint untapped capacity before adding headcount
- Monitor employee well-being to prevent costly burnout
Contact our sales team to learn more and start your journey toward a more profitable future.
