Buying Workshop Upgrades in Iron Will mode

Is there any benefit to buying the various workshop upgrades in Iron Will mode? Specifically, the ones who's stated benefit is they make your cat workers more efficient (e.g. the hoes and axes)?

Obviously they won't have any immediate benefit, but do I need them for anything useful later? For example, are there future buildings or upgrades that are dependent on having these earlier (useless) upgrades first?