3 ms·
There has never been an understanding that rising profits = no layoffs. Zero idea where that came from. Companies will reduce workforce when they dont think tho
by HDThoreaun 11mo ago
There has never been an understanding that rising profits = no layoffs. Zero idea where that came from. Companies will reduce workforce when they dont think those workers are providing value, that has always been the case.
- moregrist 11mo agoThis was not the case for much of the 20th century, where layoffs were seen as an embarrassment. For decades, engineers at IBM, HP, Xerox, etc assumed that they had a job for life; because they did. The management culture you describe may predate Jack Welch, but certainly came into vogue with him. It has all the well-known downsides: management often lays off critical staff because they can’t really measure productivity, it destroys morale, many of the remaining high-performers leave, and is often followed by hiring replacements in the next year or two because the people cut were actually necessary. So it is odd to see it happen for highly profitable companies.