3000 employees laid off

A necessary measure

I did not find the headline „3000 families face uncertain future“, but many on redundancies, with much higher numbers. A financial expert in the IT industry is quoted as follows:

„I don’t see the layoffs as a warning signal for the industry, but rather as a necessary measure to bring the excesses from 2021 back to normal levels.“ 

Such reports and statements leave me somewhat speechless because of their blindness to suffering. They also show a frightening blindness to systemic connections, for interdependencies, between different areas of life and the economy. 

In the eyes of the decision-makers, the suffering of the 3000 families and the resulting economic damage seem irrelevant because they themselves are not affected by it. 

Shareholder value seems to be the main criterion for strategic decisions. The interests of those involved in generating shareholder value are neglected. I fear that the question of what value the planned product has for society, whether it really creates added value, is not asked either. 

One of the justifications for the „need for correction“ that I have found is that companies need different skills from employees now than they did in the phase of increased hiring. In this thinking, employees are seen as having fixed characteristics rather than as lifelong learners. 

The idea that constant #training of employees, especially in the direction of competencies not yet required, significantly increases the flexibility of companies has not yet caught on everywhere. 

It may also be that the cynical conviction prevails that I can throw away the unsuitable „tool“ in an emergency and buy the one that fits now. In the short term, this may even be correct in mathematical terms. In the long run, however, it is certainly a waste of competence and capital. 

However, I refuse to believe that our economic system, which has the multiplication of capital as its primary goal, is sustainable. The amount of suffering created by the focus on shareholder value is too costly in the long run. I would like to see a human-centred system. 

I believe we are free to organise our coexistence on this planet so that all can live with dignity and experience happiness.

Each of us can contribute to our well-being and that of others if we all treat each other with interest and appreciation.

As one of the few active coaches with more than 50 years of experience, I offer my whole repertoire of competencies.