#costcutting

In case you haven’t heard, severance is no longer funded by the company at corporate higher level. Organizations have to absorb those costs now. Those orgs are not going to be as willing to lay people off vs just firing for whatever reason they come up with.

The Metropolitan Opera has announced a new round of cost-cutting measures, including layoffs, executive pay reductions, and a scaled-back production schedule, as it continues to grapple with financial instability, according to reporting by the The New York Times.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Metropolitan-Opera-Announces-Layoffs-Salary-Cuts-and-Reduced-Programming-Amid-Ongoing-Financial-Strain-20260120

Hasanna Birdsong, chief executive officer of the nonprofit, said the operation will move forward with 20 to 25 employees after cutting personnel across all its departments.

https://www.lehighvalleynews.com/local-news/lehigh-valley-public-media-cuts-nearly-half-its-staff-after-years-of-financial-losses

Over the past two to three years, there has been a noticeable and troubling shift in Dell’s people culture. What once stood out as the company’s strongest asset—the fabric of trust, inclusion, and employee-centric values—appears to have steadily deteriorated.

This change feels less incidental and more deliberate. Decisions increasingly seem driven by cost-cutting and downsizing, with little regard for preserving the culture that once defined the organization. Instead of investing in engagement and retention, there appears to be an unspoken acceptance—if not encouragement—of voluntary attrition as a means to reduce headcount and save money.

It’s disheartening to witness the gradual unraveling of a culture that many employees valued deeply. What was once a source of pride has now become a cause for concern—and that is truly a shame.

Now that things have settled down, we are fully focused on cutting costs. That’s all the LT cares about. With all the cost cutting there have got to be layoffs. The question is when? 2026? 2027? How long does it take for layoffs to come to us? Where are all the employees going with all the work being cut? Trying to see if I can last long enough to get laid off. Wishing I took the EOI but had no idea what we were in for.

Anybody on H1B visa impacted in this round so far? In previous rounds, no visa folks were impacted, at least on the network org. Seems like company is harboring visa holders, Anybody else feel that way? H1B paperwork involves filling costs, lawyer fees etc. which is opex, If the goal is saving opex....

Goal: Decrease operating cost by reducing high salary people and not paying for hourly worker benefits as there are many store employees.

1. Take away store employee holidays so the full timers quit. Huge savings on the benefits. Then only hire part timers to replace.

2. Close OPO to make as many people quit as possible. So far under 100 but soon it will be up to 200. Could even go up to 300 within 3 months of OPO closer.

3. Few months after closing OPO, Move head quarter to a cheaper area and cash 400 million for 4 buildings. Expect people who live nearby to quit. People moved to Chicago for a job and bought a home nearby to have balanced life style. Lot of people who work at a head quarter will quit if office moves far away. Near the farms where it is cheaper land or in middle by staples office on I355.

Leftover downtowners will quit if they are not by commuter train.

Total people who quit will be around 1000 at the end without any layoff or severance package. This guys know what they are doing.

And even behind Citi. Of the big 4, it's a junk bottom of the barrel stock. Literally. Charlie Scharf can't seem to grow the bank, so he's relentlessly cutting, because it's all he knows how to do.

Helps explain the never ending layoffs.

No wonder there are so many layoffs! 30000 employees laid off to recover $10B.
Increase the price of Prime!

Hi everyone,
I'm wondering if anyone has heard about potential cost-cutting measures or layoffs affecting contractors at Charles Schwab? With the current economic climate and many companies restructuring, I'm curious if there are any known plans to reduce contractor workforce or cut contractor-related costs. Has anyone heard anything from their teams or managers about this?

Delighting customers means providing them the service they pay for! Cutting costs is not delighting anyone. Its so embarrassing to try to answer friends and family when they ask what is going on with Verizon. We need our network people!

Firing "higher cost" employees, replacing with cheaper, less experienced people that will be kept around for only a few years.

Higher mid level "yes men" managers who just wanna make VP/SVP/ESVP.... coming up with schemes to turn a higher profit (on paper anyway) to sell to the next higher level sociopath. Many large companies operate this way and it is ki-ling the middle class.

What a day. Verizon continues to chase “leaner operations,” yet today’s massive outage tells a different story. When cost-cutting overrides sound engineering and accountability, reliability inevitably suffers.

This will almost certainly drive additional churn. A culture where network decisions are influenced by politics and optics—rather than technical rigor—has consequences, and customers ultimately pay the price.

The long-held perception of Verizon as a “premium” network deserves closer scrutiny. Today’s outage, combined with the recent workforce reductions, exposes a growing gap between branding and reality. Reliability isn’t a marketing slogan—it’s the result of disciplined investment, empowered engineering teams, and accountable leadership.

If this trajectory continues, the market will reach its own conclusion.

Project Managers rebadging. 90% and 10% stay as GW (for now).
Consolidation under one VP + mass rebadging + downgraded benefits usually means cost restructuring and positioning the company for a transaction (sale/spin/outsourcing). Whether the “sell off” is confirmed or not, the pattern is consistent with that kind of move.

Next Up:
Business Analysts
Developers.

bP writing down Billions in foolish investments and then will try to save money on bog rolls or changing the thermostat in offices

Labor cuts. It's about time Amazon gets rid of these people that don't work. Floral. SSS. Self Checkout "attendant". Bakery "Cake Decoraters". "Bakers". "cooks".
All useless. It's time for them to hit the road.

In the last year, AI-related layoffs have started to feel routine, showing up nearly every week in corporate announcements. Businesses in multiple sectors are increasingly citing “efficiency improvements” from artificial intelligence as the reason for workforce reductions. While companies frame these moves as innovation-driven, many workers see AI being used as a cover for cost-cutting and restructuring.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/opinion-a-shorter-workweek-can-prevent-ai-driven-mass-unemployment/ar-AA1U0ce2

That's the kind of fu---d up world we're living in.

https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/12/retail_giant_kingfisher_says_no/

Isn’t it hilarious? They cut hours at the stores while launching these shiny new markets, just slapping lipstick on a pig with mismatched fixtures from the clearance aisle. Meanwhile, they’re pouring millions into those fancy light-up signs for the golden stores. When will they realize that all the flashy visuals in the world won’t help if there’s no one around to assist the customers? People have already started to stop showing up—do they really think those big lighted boxes will bring them back in?

Goldman Sachs is set to begin layoffs on January 11 as part of a wider shake-up centered on its investment banking and global markets teams. The cuts are aimed at saving $1.3 billion in operating costs over the next three years, as the bank shifts capital toward its top businesses and technology.

https://www.prismedia.ai/news/goldman-sachs-begins-major-layoffs-in-aifueled-cost-push

There's no limit to greed. We get the short end of the stick whether the business is booming or busting. Don't ever relax, especially in retail. Better to always be on the lookout for other options. You never know - you may come across a better opportunity. Yes, even in this bad economy. There's life after Macy's.

The news indicates a prevailing sentiment among employees regarding recent layoffs. A significant 69% of workers believe that "AI layoffs" are not genuine reasons for job cuts. Instead, many employees suspect that artificial intelligence is merely being used as an excuse for broader restructuring or cost-cutting measures. No specific company is named as having conducted these particular layoffs.

https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2026/01/08/69-of-employees-think-ai-layoffs-are-just-an-excuse/176037/

The news indicates a prevailing sentiment among employees regarding recent layoffs. A significant 69% of workers believe that "AI layoffs" are not genuine reasons for job cuts. Instead, many employees suspect that artificial intelligence is merely being used as an excuse for broader restructuring or cost-cutting measures. No specific company is named as having conducted these particular layoffs.

https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2026/01/08/69-of-employees-think-ai-layoffs-are-just-an-excuse/176037/

The company is so poorly managed , they overpay management, they allow these techs to take home there trucks , I see cable trucks parked in one location sometimes for 2-3 hrs , here’s an idea why don’t you take back contractor work and give it to in-house techs

You don’t make up for that loss overnight. I remember when it was considered a bad idea to throw money into that region but Citi “saw an opportunity” and it turned out to be a 1.2 billion $ mistake.

Gotta chop the heads to make up for the loss. Here comes the blood bath. Good luck everyone.

Vps reporting to same vp’s. No thinning out. Help me understand how we’re cutting operating costs? Like seriously.
Literally hundreds of directors in sec which is a simple upgrade project su-king millions.
Resilience teams do nothing but peacock.
Half of support should be cut as vendors do the actual work.
This is getting ridiculous. Take some hard actions and let’s run lean in tech to do our part in getting Nike back in line. Jesus Christ already.

Per ignites article… if global markets continue to sour…could mean layoffs down the pipeline

Moving HQ from Dallas to Plano means billions poured into the new campus, long term lease, buildouts, utilities, security, and facilities just to force people into offices to sit on video calls. All cost. No return.

There’s a cheaper, smarter option leadership refuses to touch.

End five day RTO. Shrink or break the leases. Go remote first.

Office space costs large companies roughly $12,000 to $18,000 per employee per year. With roughly 130,000 employees, that’s $1.5 to $2.3 billion every single year. Over five years, up to $11 billion. Over ten years, north of $20 billion.

Instead of saving billions, leadership is lighting it on fire to defend a failed work model. Plano isn’t a strategy. Five day RTO isn’t leadership. It’s just another expensive mistake employees and shareholders will pay for.

I’m constantly surprised that people just aren’t getting it with AI. This is not a differentiator…everyone is adopting it. Verizon needs to adopt and implement it just to survive and keep competitive. It’s about nothing more than reducing the cost base as much as possible

Notifications will be given on January 12. Those subject will remain employed through January 16. Shared services is aggressively making cuts with no plans to fix lack of workforce available to fulfill client needs.
I work for a state agency that recently contracted with GWT for the promise of cost. I was against the negotiation, but I don’t have enough sway to have made it otherwise. I also used to work for GWT so I have this info passed to me first hand. Take it or leave it.

I, along with roughly 140 other employees, was laid off yesterday. This came just two weeks after being told by my department lead that while R&D was over budget, my role was safe.

Many of those impacted were considered high performers and had strong year-end reviews. This makes the decision feel less about performance and more like a short-sighted attempt to offset missed earnings targets.

A significant number of those let go were among the highest-paid employees on their teams, often with stronger stock and benefits packages. At the same time, the company continues to publicly boast about plans to hire 700 additional employees this year.

Cutting experienced, higher-cost employees to replace them with cheaper labor appears to be the new strategy at Axon.

Due to the huge losses on the Ford Lightening, Ford needs to cut office facilities expenses. Ford's turning the building heat off for the remainder of the Winter in the Train Station office.

Auto News posts story about Ford (and GM) pinching pennies to improve performance. Code for on demand price reductions coming your way. Now in addition to drastically reduced volumes and ultimate blame for recalls, your price is too high.

And the Ford clown show leadership continues on their way (but with good seats at the F1 race.)

Oil price is declining. R&D being trimmed down to help achieve structural cost savings on target. Poor value delivery observed in emtech and IP walking out the door.

Attrition is not winding it down fast enough as hoped. Some hipos will be sent to business over next few months in prep.

Recommend requesting a move out of emtech if possible

Long overdue. FnF no longer protected.

Corporations Viewpoint -

Of any employee.

The Bottom Line.

Remember this, always.

Employees are considered an (Expendable) line item due to Cost of Salary, and Benefits.

Corporations Viewpoint -

Of any employee.

The Bottom Line.

Remember this, always.

Employees are considered an (Expendable) line item due to Cost of Salary, and Benefits.

The argument AGAINST any ER was that in the past too many senior people took them and lots of tribal knowledge walked out the door.

Now with the company focus on AI and that AI should have absorbed a good chunk of that knowledge is now finally the time to get rid of a lot of the expensive folks that have been around forever?

While CEOs have spent months framing layoffs as a strategic shift toward AI-driven efficiency, the equity market has perceived recent layoff announcements as a negative signal about company’ prospects. "AI restructuring" is often a convenient cover for desperate cost-cutting necessitated by declining profitability.