The American business sector is experiencing an unprecedented wave of layoffs. Talent expansion, once seen as a symbol of growth, has now become a burden in the eyes of companies. While U.S. corporate profits reached an all-time high at the end of last year, one-fifth of S&amp;P 500 companies have reduced their size over the past decade.
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal on June 18, the number of white-collar jobs in U.S. listed companies has decreased by 3.5% over the past three years, with one in five S&amp;P 500 constituents continuously slimming down for a decade. This wave of layoffs is rarely detached from the economic cycle; it coincides with record profit growth for U.S. companies at the end of last year, as giants like Amazon and Bank of America implement &#34;human efficiency reforms&#34; through AI and organizational flattening, making both ordinary employees and management targets for optimization.
Procter &amp; Gamble announced this month that it will cut 7,000 positions, accounting for 15% of its non-manufacturing workforce, aiming to create &#34;broader roles and smaller teams.&#34; Estee Lauder and dating app operator Match Group recently stated that they have cut about 20% of their management personnel. Microsoft also plans to lay off thousands of employees in its sales department and other teams in the coming weeks.
What is unique about this wave of layoffs is that it is not a forced move due to declining performance. Instead, in the AI era, &#34;more people means more power&#34; is being replaced by &#34;elite troops.&#34; Regarding this phenomenon, the CEO of Bank of America bluntly stated:
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Fewer people and lower costs lead to higher output.
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<h2>AI Catalyzes &#34;Human Efficiency Worship&#34;</h2>
Generative AI is prompting executives to envision a future with fewer employees.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy candidly stated in a memo to employees on Tuesday that the rise of AI will eliminate the demand for certain jobs in the coming years. He emphasized that the best leaders can &#34;achieve the greatest results with the least resources needed to get the job done.&#34;
The CEOs of e-commerce platform Shopify and language learning app Duolingo have told their teams that the prerequisite for future hiring is to first prove that the job cannot be automated. The startup Jolie, with only five employees, has generated about $50 million in annual revenue. CEO Ryan Babenzien stated:
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Ten years ago, it would have been very difficult for five or fewer employees to build a $50 million business. Today, I think this will become very common.
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More and more companies are focusing on efficiency rather than scale, and having more people has become an obstacle to development. Reports indicate that from large enterprises in Seattle to Bank of America in Charlotte, North Carolina, and companies of all sizes in between, an increasing number of businesses believe that having too many employees is itself a barrier. Many bosses convey the message that any employee still receiving a paycheck can work harder.
<h2>Management Becomes the Hardest Hit</h2>
Management personnel have become the primary target of this round of layoffs. Data from Live Data Technologies shows that from May 2022 to May 2025, the number of managers in U.S. companies will decrease by 6.1%, with executive-level positions dropping by 4.6%.
Under CEO Brian Moynihan's leadership, Bank of America has reduced its workforce from 285,000 employees in 2010 to about 213,000, while revenue has grown by 18% compared to a decade ago
The bank will reduce its management levels from 13 to about 7.
Marie Myers, Chief Financial Officer of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, told investors: &#34;A flatter structure means faster.&#34; The company currently has fewer than 59,000 employees, the smallest size since its independence a decade ago.
However, Joseph Fuller, a management professor at Harvard Business School, warned: &#34;Excessive flattening can lead to organizational dysfunction, forcing employees to take on the workload of three people.&#34;

Procter & Gamble cuts 15% of non-production employees, Estée Lauder and Match reduce 20% of managers, Bank of America management levels are compressed from level 13 to level 7, and Microsoft also plans to lay off thousands of employees. The uniqueness of this wave of layoffs lies in the fact that it is not a forced move due to declining performance; at the end of last year, U.S. companies even saw record profit growth. Instead, in the AI era, more and more companies advocate efficiency above all, "fewer people, more output."

- The U.S. corporate sector is experiencing an unprecedented wave of layoffs, with 3.5% of white-collar jobs reduced in the past three years despite record profits.  
- Major companies like Procter & Gamble and Microsoft are cutting thousands of positions, focusing on efficiency over size, as AI drives a shift towards fewer employees.  
- Management roles are particularly affected, with a 6.1% decline in managerial positions, raising concerns about potential organizational dysfunction due to excessive flattening.  

"Layoff Wave" Sweeps Through Major U.S. Companies