That has generally been my experience as well -- the concrete benefits in terms of lowered OpEx (aka paying less for a worker) is offset by the intangible ineff

That has generally been my experience as well -- the concrete benefits in terms of lowered OpEx (aka paying less for a worker) is offset by the intangible inefficiencies. It's a lot harder and a lot more chaotic than people realize. Plus automation is eating away at the lower level stuff.