The New Normal of Corporate Restructuring: A Concerning Trend
The phrase “organisational restructure” has become an all-too-familiar part of our corporate vocabulary lately. While scrolling through various online discussions today, I noticed a disturbing pattern emerging in conversations about workplace stability - or rather, the growing lack of it.
Looking back to my early career days in the late 90s, redundancies were relatively rare events that made headlines. They were treated as serious corporate decisions that could damage a company’s reputation. These days, it seems like they’ve become just another routine business strategy, as casual as updating the office coffee machine.
The tech sector, where I’ve spent most of my career, appears to be leading this concerning trend. What’s particularly troubling is seeing profitable companies wielding redundancies like a convenient tool for quick cost-cutting, rather than as a last resort during genuine financial hardship. One discussion I read today mentioned a company that laid off 13% of its workforce while sitting on hundreds of millions in cash reserves, only to rehire similar numbers within 18 months.
The current job market paints a stark picture. A factory position that would typically attract 50 applicants last year now draws 700. The competition for tech roles has become equally fierce, with senior positions attracting unprecedented numbers of highly qualified candidates. This isn’t just about normal economic cycles anymore - something fundamental has shifted in our employment landscape.
Working in development and DevOps, I’ve witnessed this transformation firsthand. The industry that once prided itself on innovation and growth seems to have adopted a perpetual cycle of hire-and-fire as its new operating model. It’s particularly frustrating to see this happening while companies simultaneously complain about skills shortages and the challenge of finding good talent.
The human cost of this approach is severe. Last week at my local café in Brunswick, I overheard three separate conversations about redundancies - all in different industries. Each story carried the same undertone of anxiety and uncertainty about the future. It’s not just about losing a job; it’s about the psychological impact on workers who can never feel secure in their positions, regardless of their performance or dedication.
The trend has broader implications for our society. How can people commit to long-term financial decisions like mortgages when job security has become so precarious? The standard advice to “keep your skills updated” feels increasingly inadequate when even highly skilled workers find themselves caught in these corporate reshuffles.
Perhaps it’s time for a serious discussion about regulatory changes. While businesses need flexibility to adapt to market conditions, there should be more scrutiny of companies that make positions redundant only to recreate similar roles shortly after. The current system seems to prioritize short-term cost savings over long-term stability and growth.
The solution isn’t simple, but it needs to start with recognizing that this isn’t just about business efficiency - it’s about the kind of society we want to build. We need better protections for workers while maintaining business flexibility. More importantly, we need corporate leaders to recognize that treating employees as disposable assets ultimately damages their own long-term success.
Maybe the pendulum will swing back eventually, but until then, we all need to stay vigilant and support efforts to create more sustainable employment practices. The future of work shouldn’t be an endless cycle of redundancies and rehiring - we can do better than that.