Google, Microsoft and other big tech companies spent the past few years ramping up employee perks as they battled each other for top talent. Now, as the tech industry tries to weather the economic storm, the fate of those extras will be an interesting barometer of the severity of the cutbacks, and the effects. Will the perks survive? And what will happen to employee morale if they don't?

To monitor the situation, just keep an eye on Microsoft's towels.

As part of a broad series of cutbacks several years ago, Microsoft eliminated the laundered towel service offered to employees who shower after biking to work or playing sports on the company's Redmond campus. That and the other cutbacks caused an unusually strong public outcry from Microsoft employees, ultimately leading the company to reinstate the towel service and other perks.

Of course, at this point, the bigger question is whether Microsoft employees will keep their jobs, let alone their towel service. As reported here yesterday, the anonymous Mini-Microsoft employee blogger fueled the speculation with a post suggesting that Microsoft could announce cutbacks, and possibly layoffs, next month. Microsoft officials aren't commenting.

But if the towels go, it would be symbolic of something larger: The soft and fluffy days of the tech industry are officially over.