Good morning. The wave of layoff announcements over the past few weeks is telling us something, most importantly, something that isn’t as easily measured as the number of jobs eliminated. It’s a change in the business environment. We can see this especially in big-company culture, a shift in what is OK and even virtuous to say out loud. Just maybe it’s signaling a new norm for employment and leadership. At its foundation, of course, is AI, regardless of whether companies say so directly.
Over the past two weeks, we’ve learned that Amazon will eliminate 14,000 jobs with plans to eliminate more. Target will cut 1,800 corporate jobs, the company’s biggest layoff in a decade. United Parcel Service reported it had eliminated a staggering 48,000 jobs so far this year. Verizon will lay off 15,000. Nestlé said it will cut 16,000 jobs, mostly white-collar, in the next two years. Why all those mega-layoff announcements in just a few weeks? The usual reasons don’t explain it. The economy hasn’t suddenly changed significantly. Companies could conceivably be bracing for a recession, though it’s far from clear when or if that might arrive; the Wall Street Journal’s October survey of economists shows growth increasing next year. The traditional season for general “slimming-down” layoffs is December and January.
