Does the increased productivity really benefit the society, or just shareholders? If companies have the choice between doing more with 2x more productive worker

Does the increased productivity really benefit the society, or just shareholders? If companies have the choice between doing more with 2x more productive workers, or firing half of their workforce to increase profits quickly, at least I believe most would do the latter. Or maybe my views are simply influenced by living in an European gerontocracy where economy is almost always about finding new ways to cut costs and do same with less, never about doing more or better.