I'm with you - I just don't think I wrote clearly enough above. If a company blindly cuts every division the same amount, it's dumb. 20% across the board cuts

I'm with you - I just don't think I wrote clearly enough above. If a company blindly cuts every division the same amount, it's dumb. 20% across the board cuts penalize the productive too much, and don't cut the unproductive enough. It's better to get the same cost savings by shutting down or stopping unproductive activities, letting go or selling the least productive activities, and investing in the future. You can still get the 20% personnel cut, but some places lose 50% of their staff, and others gain staff.