The bigger issue isn’t just layoffs — it’s what the organization is choosing to fix versus what it continues to allow.
In some areas like TS & EP, teams already seem very lean, yet people are still being let go. At the same time, other areas such as EA/Innovation in TS & EP continue to grow despite what appear to be significant overlaps in roles and responsibilities.
GCC is another example. There seems to be ongoing conflict between leaders, with teams getting caught in the middle and even being encouraged to Speak Up against other leaders. Common Services also appears to overlap significantly with existing Service Owner responsibilities. In some cases, the teams actually doing the operational work and participating in incidents are barely visible, while common services come in afterward and present the outcome as though they drove the resolution.
The result is an increasingly political and toxic environment. People are protecting territory, competing for visibility and credit, and questioning who they can trust. Friends don’t feel like friends anymore, and leaders seem more focused on positioning against one another than working together.
If layoffs and restructuring are supposed to make the organization more efficient, why aren’t we first looking objectively at duplicated organizations, overlapping responsibilities and layers of leadership?
Whether leadership intends it or not, the current structure and behaviors are enabling this culture. And it is becoming exhausting for the people who are simply trying to do their jobs.