We’re losing too many good people, especially leaders at the higher levels.
The people who are smart, capable, and marketable are finding other opportunities and leaving. The problem is that these roles are not being backfilled because leadership still believes we are “fat” or redundant. In reality, much of the redundancy is not where the strongest performers are.
So what happens? The remaining high performers absorb the work. More scope, more pressure, fewer experienced people, and no real plan to replace the talent walking out the door.
This is not sustainable. We are heading toward another wave of departures, and once that happens, the damage may not be fixable. Institutional knowledge is leaving. Strong leaders are leaving. The people who can carry the company through uncertainty are leaving.
At some point, this stops being “right-sizing” and becomes self-inflicted damage.