VLSS explained in a few sentences. Anything that raises the stock price five cents in the short term is good, even if that same decision makes no sense for the long term health, positioning or profitability of the company. Building and maintaining the network costs too much money (even though we need that same network to make money) so we starve the CO's and claim that they lose us money. People are not an asset, but a cost. We must get rid of people, except for the dozen or so up in the Ivory Tower. They are the smart ones and deserve every penny of the millions they get.
You have no idea how many managers I've seen who did all the company's bidding, thinking that the company would love them and reward them for it, but then found out that they too were quite expendable at the end of the day. Perhaps if they all had resisted the cut, cut, cut mentality a little bit, occasionally saying "Hey there's no way I can successfully do the job and serve the public like I'm supposed to do according to your CREDO and Codes We Work By with the number of people you've given me." then they might still be employed. Some of them, anyway.