I was recalled from vacation last week to notify employees they were being terminated. Then I was personally impacted. These layoffs are real — they accelerate tomorrow (03/31). This playbook is painfully familiar: make a risky bet, prop up the books, shift risk to employees, and then cut the people who built the product. History repeats — Enron, Lehman, FTX, WeWork — different names, same patterns. Sacrifice institutional knowledge and experience for short-term optics and a gamble on leadership’s vision. And too often the cuts disproportionately hit those who are older, outspoken, politically out-of-step, or who challenged the direction.
The result is predictable: silence expertise, reward conformity, and chase mediocrity while pretending it’s decisive leadership. If you care about accountability, transparency, or the future of good work, don’t accept this quietly. Demand clarity on the rationale, fairness in selection criteria, and real support for those pushed out. Lives and livelihoods are on the line — this shouldn’t be swept under the rug.