#costcutting

Lifted this from another comment on this site. It gets to the heart of the matter bigly. Sad but true that this is happening to this once great company before our eyes.

It's the only AI software that Chevron has. I am guessing that the LT is planning on celebrating this tool as a means of leveraging AI to cut operational costs. The entirety of AI within CVX has been oversold to the board and the executive team. They have been pumping money into the "dream" software for years and the BoD wants to see results. The money saved over cutting headcount from eavesdropping on emails and text messages will never match the promised returns of AI sold to the board. There is a critical OC gap with regards to AI and the datasets are a mess. It will take years to harvest energy production related returns from AI within Chevron. MW is on the $32M hook to show costs cuts has cut critical headcounts and is now recreating a low cost workforce in India and eliminating the costly US workforce in an attempt to realize the savings that AI might have provided. This is a one-to-two-year trick pony because it's not a sustainable YoY strategy. Once the sham starts falls apart in a year or two, MW (who is already cashing out) will depart. In the meantime, Chevron will lose more talented people since it is fairly evident there is no long-term career to be had here. This is a prime example of how short-sighted corporate leadership with a shallow technological understanding can destroy a once great company. The workforce tension and the desperation of management is palpable, and the first cracks are starting to appear.

We’ve all seen the latest email: a hard push toward a few "preferred suppliers" (mostly the large Indian MNCs) and a mandate to move away from our niche partners.

Reading between the lines, this looks like a forced transition from FTEs to a contractor dominant model. But is there actually a strategy here, or is this just another way to cook the books?

A few things that don't add up:

The "Recycling" Loop: I’m hearing reports that these preferred vendors are just hiring back former colleagues and charging us a markup.

Quality vs. Cost: The feedback on these specific providers has been bottom-tier. Moving from specialized niche experts to "volume" contractors usually results in technical debt that costs more to fix later.

Compliance or Convenience? Is "inappropriate reporting" (or lack of transparency) from these big firms being ignored just because they make the balance sheet look "leaner" by reducing official headcount?

What’s the real "idea" behind this? Is it just about shifting liability and hitting a "variable cost" target for the next earnings call, or is there any long-term plan to maintain the quality of our output?

Curious to hear from others who have transitioned to these providers. Are you seeing a drop in quality, or is this "recycling" of old employees as widespread as it sounds?

Thank you for your service:

John Stankey - $26,410,845
Pascal Desroches: $15,477,119
Lori Lee: $9,889,903
Jeff Mcelfresh: $15,602,605
D. Mcatee: $13,637,271

Page 61:
pdf.secdatabase.com/2460/0001193125-25-073402.pdf

Are we really having a sales kickoff? How much money does this cost? wouldn't it bt better to save? instead of flying everyone out just to "network" and get drunk in las vegas.

At least ten high ranking positions suddenly eliminated from Generac Power Systems in Pewaukee, WI ( www.generac.com ) in a cost saving effort leading to reorganizing of the remote monitoring teams.

Generac CEO Aaron Jagdfelt interview in the news from earlier:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ4KugBjyfA

Give high performing employees a severance because they’re paid too much. Hire a Danos contractor to do the same job with much less liability and position cost.

Win/win. Take the severance buddy

The timing is not a coincidence: Verizon is essentially funding the start of that $25 billion buyback program with the savings from those 15,000 employees.
The "Cost Transformation" Math

In late 2025, Dan Schulman launched what he called a "cost transformation." Here is how the numbers connect:

The Layoffs: Verizon cut roughly 13,000 to 15,000 positions (about 15% of their workforce). This was the largest workforce reduction in the company's history.

The Savings: Management told investors these cuts, along with AI automation and switching company-owned stores to franchises, will save the company roughly $5 billion per year in operating expenses.

The Buyback: They then announced a plan to spend at least $3 billion on share buybacks in 2026.

Essentially, they are taking the money saved from 15,000 salaries and handing it directly to Wall Street.
Why this fuels the "Bonus" argument

You mentioned the concern about Dan Schulman’s bonus, and the layoffs add a specific layer to that:

Efficiency Ratios: CEO bonuses are often tied to "Operating Margin" or "Free Cash Flow per Share." By cutting 15,000 people, the "cost to run the business" drops instantly, making Schulman look like an efficiency genius on paper.

EPS Manipulation: As we discussed, buybacks reduce the share count to boost Earnings Per Share (EPS). When you combine massive cost-cutting (which raises the "Earnings" part) with buybacks (which lowers the "Shares" part), the EPS growth looks explosive.

The "New Sheriff" Strategy: Schulman is using the classic "Kitchen Sink" approach—take all the painful hits (layoffs, massive severance charges of $1.8 billion) in his first few months so that 2026 and 2027 look like a massive "recovery" that he can take credit for.

The Human vs. Financial Cost
The Wall Street View The Real World View
"Leaner and Scrappier": Analysts cheer the $5 billion in savings as a way to protect the 6% dividend. Morale & Service: Cutting 15% of the staff (mostly middle management) often leads to worse customer service and slower technical fixes.
"Capital Discipline": Returning cash shows they aren't wasting money on "ego projects." The Human Toll: 15,000 families lost income while the company "found" $25 billion for its own stock.

NO GROWTH NO STRATEGY JUST BIG FAT CATS

Sabre’s operational trajectory reveals a profound leadership failure to translate a $323 million five-year investment in software development into genuine innovation, as these funds have served primarily as defensive "keep-the-lights-on" expenditure rather than a catalyst for non-linear revenue or structural cost efficiency. This stagnation is starkly evidenced by an efficiency paradox where the company shed 38% of its workforce—collapsing from approximately 7,500 employees in 2022 to 4,650 in 2025—while simultaneously handling 21% higher booking volumes, exposing a staggering level of historical dead weight and persistent resource mismanagement. The reality is that Sabre’s "transformation" is fueled not by software-driven productivity, but by an aggressive cycle of layoffs; nearly 100% of the $70 million in technology expense reductions in 2025 came from labor and professional service cuts, while cloud migration contributed a mere $18 million in hosting savings. With leadership planning to sink another $65 million into restructuring and further layoffs for 2026, it is clear the primary strategy remains shrinking for survival, confirming that half a decade of massive capital outlays has yielded no meaningful innovation-driven value or digital scale for the enterprise.

UK unemployment reached 5.2%, a five-year high. The retail sector lost 74,000 jobs year-on-year. Businesses attribute these job losses to higher labor costs. Increased National Insurance contributions and minimum wage hikes impacted hiring. Younger workers and consumer-facing businesses are most affected.

https://internetretailing.net/retail-layoffs-mount-as-uk-unemployment-climbs-to-five-year-peak/

UK

4Q24 Report
As of December 31, 2024, we employed approximately 70,000 full-time and part-time employees, including network, retail, administrative and customer support functions.
4Q25 Report
As of December 31, 2025, we employed approximately 75,000 full-time and part-time employees, including network, retail, administrative and customer support functions.

So an increase of 5K employees YOY, even though they spent $390 million in 4Q25 to "...streamline operations by centralizing leaders and teams, reducing organizational layers, and eliminating duplicative roles..." and plan on "...remaining costs of approximately $150 million expected to be substantially incurred by the end of the first quarter of 2026. "

So I guess we have to wait until 4Q2026 report to understand how many employees are affected by a net cost $540 Million?

I’m so glad T has an extra $25M to sponsor the Pebble Beach golf tournament. After all, the majority of the people watching golf have NO idea who AT&T is, or what the company sells!! I’m sure people are flooding to the stores for millions of new net adds…

The T & Stinky way…whine about cash and then drive up costs on stupid sh-t! Followed by subsequently hacking away at the labor force…

On February 9, 2026, interim CEO Than Powell resigned from his temporary role at Longeveron but remained with the company in business development, as the board appointed veteran biotech executive Stephen H. Willard as permanent CEO effective February 11, 2026. Longeveron tied Willard’s compensation to a mix of cash and equity, including substantial stock and option grants, while simultaneously imposing a temporary 50% pay cut on its CEO and executive chairman and rolling out broader cost-cutting measures such as employee furloughs and reduced board fees to conserve cash ahead of pivotal clinical trial milestones.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/stocks/LGVN-Q/pressreleases/227165/longeveron-appoints-new-ceo-amid-cost-cutting-initiatives/

Outsourcing sounds good on paper until you have to redo everything because it was done wrong. The cost of poor quality is way higher than the payroll savings. When will they learn this lesson?

Can’t imagine that this whole company won’t be in TX in 3-5 years. Stop backfilling OKC jobs in OKC and let normal attrition handle 15% of the lift while targeting back office jobs for rolling relocation (IT, HR, Accounting, Legal). Geologists and Engineers will hang on longest as the “center of excellence” but eventually bye bye.

Proposed reorg to save Meg some time: Step 1. Merge P&O, G&LC and Technology into one business (2 EVPs can walk with all the entourage), merge C&P and T&S, get rid of EVP level positions for the rest of the org. Saves min £20m pa on the headcount with improved efficiency and accountability. Get rid of strategy function completely - it has been a failure. Strategy should be driven by BUL leadership and segment EVPs not central function..same for RC&S teams - its a testament to the weakness of the EVP that they still exist. Same for Ventures - no new businesses came out of it in 20 years of its existence so its an ego satisfying project for the execs but no real value generated and a distraction for the businesses.
Step 2. Get rid of functional organisation and organise by Business Unit structure, with clear P&L accountability. No central functions that do not feed directly into a specific P&L. Desperate measures for desperate times but company needs to put profits into the cornerstone of performance and current structure is way too broad to enable such focus. BULs will start cutting costs when they have full control over it.. Step 3. Very light exploration and central subsurface team which will enable new growth (outside of existing basins, otherwise driven from BUs). Any other ideas?

So I was RA’d as a Band 10 because I was too expensive

https://www.indexbox.io/blog/ibm-to-triple-entry-level-hiring-in-2026-redefining-roles-around-ai/

There are lots of overlap, people doing stuff that could be done by interns, huge fat layers of mgmt that have been useless for decades. I am basically wanting good people to stay and the people who got paid off the backs of people who actually worked hard and had hard skills besides being buddies with someone executive. I hope oracle does the right thing and eliminates a ton of GBU mgmt or overlap. Customers wouldn’t even know the difference if GBU products even bad managers.

There is 150 million left in the plan for right sizing the company, that's roughly 1500 jobs

Will this happen before end of financial year ?

E.W. Scripps Co. is expecting to make layoffs in the near future as the company, which operates more than 60 local TV stations in the U.S., has embarked on a plan aimed at boosting adjusted earnings by up to $150 million over the next three years.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/scripps-layoffs-loom-company-sets-161754967.html

Scripps is preparing for potential layoffs as part of a significant cost-cutting and revenue growth plan. The company intends to implement new strategies, including the use of artificial intelligence and automation. These measures are designed to enhance operational efficiency and reduce expenditures. While layoffs are anticipated, the specific number of affected roles has not been disclosed. The headline indicates a strategic shift for Scripps to adapt to the evolving media landscape.

https://www.imdb.com/de/news/ni65702916/?ref_=nwc_art_perm

Anyone else been forced to attend this rushed mess?

Its like Dev Days but with external sales people mixed in, and its been a complete sh-t show. I dont think Ive learned a single thing that I couldnt have gathered from a basic google search. We are blocking off thousands of peoples time for multiple for this, hired a hype man, and are paying consultants to come pitch AI generated slide decks to IT people.

What on earth is going on? Hard to take any of the cost savings talk seriously when we pi-s away money like this

Updated - T, 2/10/26.

AI Innovation -

1) Software Firms.

2) Private Credit Firms.

3) Insurance Brokerage Firms.

4) Wealth-Management Firms.

While AI contributes many useful innovations towards society, and will create (some) related jobs.

The stocks of those respective industries are (currently) being sold-off within the Global markets.

The unemployment rate will increase (along with layoffs) the U.S. National debt (currently) at $38.7 Trillion (and rising) per usdebtclock will have (less) contributions from U.S. taxpayers (in general) unless Corporations, and the wealthy; pay more.

This list is going (not if) expand over time, if the job is computer dependent; AI can (and will) take its' place.

according to the 2025 nydfs supplemental filing, company spent $7M in out of pocket leg.al fees in 2024+$2M for l.aw division staff. $9m total not including insurance payouts\need to cut these excessive expenditures to save jobs.

They cost too much. It's that simple. Companies prioritize immediate savings over quality and short-term gains over long-term health. That’s the core reason we’re in a downward spiral, and it will almost certainly get worse. There's no vision. No grand plan. Just a relentless scramble to cut costs and funnel money to the top for as long as possible.

It looks like HP is laying off employees only to quietly rehire for nearly identical roles at significantly lower pay.

Blaming it on AI advancements or the so-called chip crisis feels like a convenient excuse

Firearms manufacturer Sturm, Ruger & Co. confirmed recent layoffs. The company reduced its New Hampshire workforce by less than 5%. This adjustment affected 90 of its 1,800 employees. The moves address cost misalignments and balance production with consumer demand. Sturm, Ruger faces financial challenges and a declining firearms market.

https://vnews.com/2026/02/09/newport-g-n-maker-layoffs/

https://www.theage.com.au/business/workplace/telstra-to-cut-209-jobs-from-ai-joint-venture-offshoring-work-to-india-20260210-p5o15l.html

Telecommunications giant Telstra and consulting firm Accenture are proposing to slash hundreds of roles from their data and AI joint venture, with some work to be offshored to India.

Telstra’s $700 million joint venture, one of the biggest AI investments by an Australian company to date, said on Tuesday it proposed to cut 209 jobs.
The venture, announced in January last year, is aimed at rolling out AI capabilities across Telstra to improve its business processes, chief executive Vicki Brady saying at the time it would build specialised AI tools for its teams to “work smarter and faster”.

A spokesperson for the joint venture confirmed on Tuesday evening that it would be reducing roles “where work is no longer needed” and moving some of its work to the joint venture team in India which, they said, had advanced AI expertise and a specialist hub that could deliver Telstra’s data and AI roadmap more quickly.

“We anticipate that over time, this would result in improved cost efficiencies
and bring an enhanced experience to Telstra’s customers,” the spokesperson said. <-- In this employee's opinion, it would only be a negative enhancement.
.....

Here's an idea: why not overhaul the leadership? Every bad decision has come from the top. That might actually save the company.

across data and risk managemnent. Reuters quotes that Citi thinks only ticking the box work is left for consent order especially with data. Though the OCC committee has to agree with the work done by Citi and this committee has appointees from both political parties, they might just give it given the overall direction of regulations under the present admin.

What this will mean....obviously layoff's. In any case, Nawani's org size is beyond control. It's still a pretty cr@ppy market...those in such roles should dust out their resumes and start applying/activating network

So now that AP has had all of its powers stripped and the new boss has laid off all of oversight, restructured technology to lay off people, and cut all of the district taskforce teams to replace only some of them with 1 investigator, how do we all think this is going to pan out?

I doubt his desperate attempt to offset the future losses (from his policies) by cost cutting everywhere else will not work. I expect store AP teams to start being cut by end of FY26 to cover for increased theft.

Also, what a great idea to cut technology! Not like 80-90% of the stores are running equipment from the late 90s that barely works or doesn’t work at all. This company loves to talk big about investing in our stores when they haven’t provided a comprehensive investment to safety & security in the last 30 years.

I'm hoping to get a clearer picture of the current situation with our vendors. I've heard whispers about potential cost-cutting measures on their end, and I'm trying to understand the impact on our side.

Does anyone have any insight into whether cost-cutting is actually happening? If so, do we know which specific vendors are being impacted? Any information you can share would be greatly appreciated.

Will Ayman have a plan to switch the company from cost-cutting back to growing revenue? Are customers actually paying extra for the new AI features, or are they just free add-ons to keep people from leaving?

I don’t see a way to break out of our current low-growth holding pattern. Thus the only future is for all divisions to eventually be acquired. Does anyone else see it differently?

Think about it, how many times can you reduce headcount before the quality of work starts to really suffers? They're boosting profits by slashing people, instead of improving the product or service. It's a very short sighted approach to business that'll bite us in the a-s.

Allstate keeps talking about efficiency, but the biggest inefficiency is the never-ending redundant management. Getting rid of some of those layers would help by cutting costs and reducing the bureaucratic nonsense we deal with daily. It's a win whichever way you look at it.

firm need access to the capital markets. time to change corporate structure. can't keep cutting your way and back into profitability. have to raise revenue. Malarkey is ki.ling us. approves 50% automatic reductions on plan pricing w/his new found $500K a year job. he sends out an email not to travel during World Cup to save $5K, but he just got a huge bump in pay and in the same vain, cuts plan pricing & revenue by 50% and there are no real revenue enhancers to speak of. $1k ira rollovers into IAA ain't gonna cut it. Need in plan annuities, managed accounts, CITs, and plan pricing hikes. Time to raise fees man ! Cut C-Suite $$, cut reps who can't sell, pharm out IT, and cut the phu.cking bloat fats

Is it just Xerox being cheap…. We’re not in a COVID situation so what’s the excuse?

No point of layoffs if they replace with new people. So they won’t. They are going to try to reduce costs if they laid off people. Some people think that they be safe if they survive layoffs. So they keep asking on this site “are there any layoffs?” and participate in rumors about it. Even though you don’t get a layoff, your workload will increase. Believe me all this types of conversations and any decisions will just make the company sink.

At the current scale, multiple layers of management are not required. For teams of approximately 50 employees, one manager is sufficient to ensure effective supervision and decision-making. Maintaining additional management layers leads to unnecessary overhead and increased costs without proportional value.

No. I won’t be going skiing. I will be at home, on the couch watching YouTube Tube or cutting the grass. Or some other low cost activity. Or sitting around thinking and planning how to increase my income.

They just did it again last week but a smaller round and called it “cost cutting”. They just can’t help themselves. Post if you know more