Record Profits and Pink Slips Do Not Belong in the Same Quarter
Same earnings call. Same slide deck. Companies celebrate their best quarter ever while HR drafts layoff lists down the hall. This is a values problem, not an economics problem.
Record profits and pink slips do not belong in the same quarter.
But here they are. Same earnings call. Same slide deck.
I've been on the inside of this. I've watched companies celebrate their best quarter ever while HR was drafting layoff lists down the hall. Same building. Same week. Same leadership team patting themselves on the back.
I've sat in those rooms. I've seen the spreadsheets.
The money was there. Year over year earnings. Multi-million dollar CEO bonuses.
But "we're optimizing for efficiency by reducing overhead costs." That's the line they use when they mean cutting people.
And the people who got cut? They weren't underperformers. They were the ones whose roles were easiest to explain away on an earnings call.
But behind every "resource" on that spreadsheet was a human being with a family and loved ones. Someone with hopes. With plans. With dreams. Someone who was counting on them.
I've never forgotten what it feels like to be on the other side of that table.
This isn't an economics problem. This is a values problem.
When the money is there and people still get walked out, that tells you everything about who leadership cares about.
It's not you.
Be loyal to one business alone. Me, Inc.™
For the full framework, read the Theory of Hireability manifesto.
If this hit close to home, come get the whole framework at TheoryOfHireability.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do layoffs happen during record-profit quarters?
Because the decision is a values problem, not an economics problem. The money is there. Leadership chooses to protect margins and bonuses over people, then calls it optimizing for efficiency by reducing overhead costs.
Who tends to get cut when companies are profitable?
Not the underperformers. The people whose roles are easiest to explain away on an earnings call, regardless of how the business is actually doing.
What is Me, Inc.?
The idea that you build and protect your own reputation, relationships, and visibility the same way a business protects its brand, because loyalty to one employer alone has never been the thing that keeps anyone safe.
