Changes always come from the top down, no matter if they are good, bad, or stolen. And most of those ideas come from the "Big Boy" Investors/Investment groups. The Board of Directors is nothing but a collection of mouths that gather once a month to "fulfill" the requirements of their salary.
AA gets his marching orders from those that hold the stock.
If you think real hard, you will get why nothing has changed or will change........because the BIG change will be coming along in a given time period. If you don't know what that is go back in time and think acquisitions.......hint, hint....
The layoffs in the past weren't actually a unique idea thought of by Williams, it was brought about by some other entity.......Why would Williams do a layoff anyhow? and now? They have always been a bloated company and for the most part still are that way. This was part of a plan and they were lucky to "escape" the first time around. It won't happen again. But Williams has hurt themselves and have been hurting themselves for the past 20+ years. Talent and experience are few and far between in the ranks. Though Williams has never been a place where talent went to work for long. 3 years tops and then move on down the road to better pay/title. (A level people don't work for them, C level people are the norm) A slow hemorrhage. Look at the Mid-Level Management in various departments, uneducated (college anyone?) and no experience. They carved themselves out a nice job and have reached a pinnacle in their career where they should never have reached in the first place. They will hold on as long as they can, because less than 1% will ever obtain the same job level success again. And they will read this and know it is all about them. We see them in the halls, meetings rooms, and going out for 2+ hour lunches. Its too perfect, keep it that way, their time will come. It is easier to eliminate a bunch of rats on one sinking ship then it is to hunt them down individually in the water. If you want change, go somewhere else for a career.