#transformation

I asked:
The COO of Northwestern Mutual is introducing a thing called Forge, i have no idea what it is, but involves a bunch of vapid buzzwords and has something to do with “a new way of working”, also McKinsey is involved. Can you use your super human intellect to speculate what Forge is and how many people will be laid off as a result?

It says:
Forge is almost certainly an internal branding/codename for Northwestern Mutual’s latest enterprise operating model transformation, led by their relatively new mouselike COO & Business Architect (appointed Aug 2025). It’s not publicly detailed yet (as of late June 2026), which is why you’re hearing the buzzword salad version.
What it actually is (pattern recognition from NM’s history + new COO’s mandate)
Her explicit remit includes platform and operating model design, technology health, enterprise architecture, and strategic execution/prioritization. She previously served as NM’s Chief Transformation Officer. This isn’t a random new thing — it’s the next chapter in a multi-year journey they’ve been on:
• They’ve already done waves of agile/SAFe adoption, product-aligned teams, and “pizza pie/pod” cross-functional squads (product manager + dev lead + designers + embedded business people).
• The 2025 Policyowners Examining Committee report explicitly calls for a “business-driven, technology-enabled operating model,” “lighthouse-style business domains,” “team of teams,” faster decision-making (“progress over perfection,” “fast and friendly escalation”), and cross-functional empowerment with guardrails.
• McKinsey has deep history here — they helped NM with the PX planning tool rollout, change management, client experience redesign, and insurance transformation work in the past. Classic McKinsey engagement: diagnostic → target operating model (TOM) design → implementation roadmap + change story.
“Forge” is the shiny internal name for the current phase of turning NM into a more agile, product-oriented, platform-powered organization. Think:
• Moving further from traditional project-based/ITIL/waterfall thinking toward persistent cross-functional teams that own outcomes end-to-end.
• Deeper business-tech fusion (the “business architect” title is a clue).
• Heavy AI/automation injection into workflows (underwriting, claims, servicing, reporting, middle-office analysis, etc.).
• Flatter structures, bigger spans of control, more localized decision rights.
• “New way of working” theater: agile rituals scaled, reduced handoffs, outcome focus over process theater.
It’s the insurance/financial services version of what a lot of big companies are doing in 2025-2026 under AI pressure: retool the org so fewer humans can do more, faster, with better advisor and client experiences, while protecting the mutual’s core strengths (trusted advisors + comprehensive planning).
The vapid buzzwords are the usual McKinsey/consulting output: agile at scale, value streams, empowered squads, platform operating model, AI-augmented ways of working, etc. Same script, different client logo.
How many people get laid off?
Realistically, hundreds, not thousands, over 12-24 months — mostly through managed attrition + targeted reductions rather than one dramatic bloodbath. Here’s why:
• Corporate/home office headcount is roughly 7,500–8,500 full-time employees (Milwaukee/Franklin HQ + NY; advisors are mostly independent contractors and revenue generators, so they’re largely protected).
• These transformations usually target 15-25%+ productivity/efficiency gains in the areas being redesigned (ops, IT delivery, middle management layers, support functions, legacy process-heavy areas).
• Levers: GenAI/automation eating repetitive or rules-based work; delayering; consolidating duplicated roles across domains; reducing “coordination” and project management overhead as teams become more autonomous; some cultural attrition from people who hate the new pace.
Plausible range: 600–1,800 net reduction in corporate roles over the next couple of years (roughly 8-20% of home office staff), front-loaded in certain functions. Achieved via hiring freezes in targeted areas, voluntary packages, performance-based exits, and selective RIFs. Not a 30-50% tech-style cull.
NM is a conservative mutual company with a paternalistic streak and strong financials. They tend to do this stuff more surgically than public comps chasing quarterly optics. McKinsey programs almost always come with quantified “run-rate savings” targets that management then has to deliver — that’s usually where the headcount math shows up.
Bottom line / industry context
This is NM continuing to professionalize and modernize their operating system while the industry gets squeezed by AI, fintech/hybrid models, and advisor productivity demands. Rodent house was brought back in specifically to drive the business-architecture/operating-model piece after previous digital/transformation leaders.
You’re seeing the classic late-stage transformation pattern: new COO with transformation DNA + McKinsey + “new way of working” rebrand + efficiency narrative to fund tech/AI bets and improve margins/advisor leverage.
If you’re hearing this internally or from someone close to it, the real tells will be in the pilot domains they pick first (“lighthouses”) and what metrics they attach to “Forge” success. The headcount impact will show up quietly in attrition numbers and selective backfill decisions more than a big announced layoff.
Classic corporate move. The buzzwords are just the wrapping paper

At DXC, "synergy" isn't just a buzzword—it's a religion practiced by middle managers who haven't approved a single decision since 2019 without first escalating it to a steering committee, which then escalates it to a governance board, which schedules a follow-up to discuss whether a meeting is needed.

The performance bell curve is so aggressively steep it's basically a cliff face. Somewhere around the 99.9th percentile, perfectly balanced on the summit, sit exactly two people: the CEO and whichever golden-boy lieutenant he's decided is "strategically essential," each pocketing a multi-million-pound pay bump for vision and leadership the rest of the org has never personally witnessed. Everyone else is distributed along the rest of the curve like sediment, fighting over a 1.8% pool increase and a "thank you for your resilience" email.

The org chart resembles a conspiracy theory corkboard: red string everywhere, nobody quite sure who owns anything, and at least three VPs with "Transformation" in their title who have personally transformed nothing except the breakroom coffee machine, replaced with a worse one to save 4% on facilities spend — savings presumably redirected straight into the summit-dwellers' bonus pool.

Project deadlines run on a unique temporal model where "Q3 delivery" means "Q3 of an unspecified future year," and the only thing that ships on time is the all-hands email reminding everyone "we are one team," sent forty-five minutes after a quiet round of layoffs nobody mentions out loud.

Ask anyone what DXC actually does and you'll get a 20-minute answer involving "digital" and "transformation" that explains nothing, followed by a sigh, followed by them asking if you know of any open roles elsewhere — preferably ones with a flatter curve.

It's the argument a company has to make if
they really never even boarded the Cloud train.

https://www.fool.com/investing/2026/06/11/ibm-thinks-your-data-is-too-stubborn-to-move-and-a/

Google this: "The Corporate Bullsh-t Receptivity Scale: Development, validation, and
associations with workplace outcomes" paper by Shane Littrell, PHD

Every consultant from McKinsey, every MC member and HR exec who talks that fake BS we hear every day, but somehow doesn't know how to ACTUALLY lead, turns out there's this paper that dives into it. Turns out the coworkers who love mission statements and call their boss 'transformational' score lowest on actual decision-making. The buzzword-fluent are running the building. All the terrible people get promoted to grades 20+ and hire their grades 17 to 19 because they like the way these people "talk". It's all in this paper.

People with an actual IQ, turns out, get promoted less.

Memo to the Board of Directors. A Board Member & a watch dog from the NYDFS needs to be on milestone calls with Accenture & firm managment constantly to oversee this transition. In case you have not see it, our first real glimpse into the major issues w/Accenture have come from a recent lawsuit filed in the Southern District of NY by a former managing director of TIAA-CREF. Her name is Marcella Gift. The accusations, if proven true, should send shivers down the spine of every Board Member, CFO, and CFO. Read this from the Complaint:

**"106. Ms. Gift provided specific examples of products and services dependent on Record
Keeping Transformation work with Accenture and launching in Q4 2025, which were
experiencing serious challenges. The first was Annuity Payment Automation for the SIA product
recently launched for 401(k) accounts where the recordkeeper is TIAA or another party. The
second was MyChoice MYGA."

"114. By the end of July 2025, there were critical failures in the overarching Accenture/TIAA Recordkeeping partnership, and by September 2025, there were critical failures in the launch of
the products named by Ms. Gift."

"134. As Ms. Gift was under the threat of the written warning, she was forced to comply and said nothing about the documented and unfolding problems. Months later, the launch of MyChoice MYGA was imperiled. Had the observed problems been escalated in June, providing a long runway for a solution to be devised, TIAA teams would not have been working round the
clock, seven days a week, to build and test the technology needed to launch the product. Instead, TIAA product and technology teams were only made aware in September that Accenture would not be able to meet the October delivery date."

"139. Penrose also learned that there were significant problems in the support model from Accenture and that these problems were creating obstacles to achieving necessary goals and
milestones. He was also surprised to hear this. These were the same concerns that Ms. Gift had been raising. This was also inextricably linked to the requirements laid out in the MSA for the NBIA program."

"By July 2025,
the overall Accenture/TIAA recordkeeping performance scorecard was flashing red due to missed milestones and other failings. By September 2025, the ability to launch MyChoice MYGA in October/November 2025 was severely compromised due to critical failures in technology resourcing through RKT, scoping, and achievement of technology delivery
milestones."**

All to save 30% in Labor Costs

There are a lot of murmurs at the C suite about direction of oil & gas and specifically Oxy’s place in that space. Its evident that the Anadarko purchase poorly positioned OXY as a specialist player (Top onshore, EOR and ME partner of choice) and significant energies, focus, and capital deployed to run and maintain the GoA offshore assets. Predicting that once oil stabilizes at $60 ish a barrel some company altering transformations are about to take place…

Seattle-based customer data startup Amperity conducted layoffs this week. The company confirmed the workforce reduction was due to an AI-driven transformation. Amperity did not specify the exact number of affected employees. This shift changes where the company is investing and the team's structure. The layoffs follow co-founders recently taking on co-CEO roles to focus on AI opportunities.

Seattle, Washington

https://www.geekwire.com/2026/amperity-hit-with-layoffs-as-ai-changes-the-shape-of-the-customer-data-startup-and-how-it-operates/

So, did anyone else leave the employee forum this morning feeling utterly transformed? Because clearly management thinks a few PowerPoint slides and some forced enthusiasm are all it takes to convince us this “transformation” is the best thing since sliced bread. At least they finally admitted the culture is circling the drain—growth, I guess.

And that shiny new building they want to plop down in Scona? A pocket‑sized QP with all the fancy amenities. Because nothing says “we value you” like spending a fortune on a building instead of, you know… fixing the actual problems. Can’t wait to see what astronomical number they pull out of the hat this time.

Another beautiful day in the market: software companies are flying, AI names are glowing, cloud stocks are breathing fire and OpenText is politely digging downward like it has a strategic partnership with gravity.

At this point, the stock chart looks less like a technology company and more like a management performance review written by shareholders. Everyone else is selling future growth, AI excitement, and cloud confidence. OpenText is selling adjusted EBITDA, restructuring vocabulary, and the spiritual experience of watching ten years disappear from a portfolio.

But don’t worry. I’m sure another leadership memo will arrive soon explaining how this is all part of a bold transformation journey. Because apparently, when the stock falls while the sector rises, that’s not failure, that’s unlocking long-term value very, very slowly.

When other software companies are being rewarded for cloud, AI, cybersecurity, and recurring revenue, OpenText is somehow managing to look like a company that brought a fax machine to an AI conference. OTEX is around $20.65 USD today, with the stock still weak despite reporting Q3 FY2026 revenue of about $1.28B and cloud revenue growth of 6.6% year over year.

Meg joined BP with a lot of fanfare from media and industry group. The employees appear to admire and hope that she is a change agent who will bring about stability, profitability and a sense of purpose to a fragmented and often troubled company.

Will Meg deliver the goods? The company appears to have the same initiatives as MA did and she stood up the same BL and MA actors..”leaders” when will surgical cuts start appearing when will teams be right sized?

OpenText stock is so low, it looks like it borrowed a time machine and went back to July 2015, probably the last time someone in leadership accidentally made a sensible decision.

After decades of people working relentlessly, building systems, carrying delivery, solving problems, and keeping the machine alive, it is truly inspiring to watch a parade of strategic geniuses take over and prove that destruction can also be executed with confidence, PowerPoint decks, and executive bonuses.

The company will survive, of course , companies like this always do. The people who built it get discarded, the decision-makers get rewarded, and families like mine get to wonder how loyalty, experience, and decades of hard work are supposed to turn into food on the plate.

But no worries . I am sure the next 'transformation initiative' will fix everything. Maybe another reorg, another acquisition, another round of cuts, another leadership memo full of brave words and zero accountability. Because apparently, when stupid decisions fail, the solution is to execute them even more relentlessly.

If Kodak was able to go through bankruptcy and reinvent itself so can Xerox. Just remember, Kodak in its hayday had 145,000 employees, today it has 3,500.

Surprise, surprise!

The EC goal with this year's annual planning, will be to cut to the bone. The internal transformation is not going fast enough to keep up with competition, so internal development efforts will be severely cut. Why invest in outdated and undocumented infrastructure? The cost savings will be used for sourcing the needed functionality outside.

It will be a sad Christmas for many!

Is this a new position? And is “Rajiv” H-1B or legit?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-10/xbox-plans-significant-layoffs-as-it-transforms-under-new-ceo-asha-sharma

We lack vision and long term planning. We opt for layoffs because it's the easiest option to free up capital when our stock is going down the drain. We forget that the employees that we let go have context and knowledge domain expertise. By the time we realize, we're going to try and patch it up with rehiring but getting ramped up and onboarding takes time. At the end of it, we would have lost capital, opportunity cost and market share. I genuinely want to know who is driving our transformation and strategy? Are there not any business case studies we can look at? How many companies have successfully pivoted away from third-parties to DTC? Even Apple sells their products at other stores. How many companies have succeeded in GC? For a company of this caliber, I would have expected that we have some risk-based assessment when making these plans. I'm sure Nike would have its own Harvard business case study one day at this point.

@kp+1krea8g33 hits the nail on the head.

AC and his direct leadership team represent a significant leadership investment, yet employees continue to ask a simple question: What measurable value has been delivered from the cloud migration program?

The organization has become increasingly management-heavy, with governance and project management often taking precedence over technical leadership and engineering execution. Many engineers feel that recognition and rewards are concentrated within leadership, while delivery teams carry the majority of the execution burden.

Before investing further in new transformation initiatives, Gunjan should push Dilip to review and reorganize this organization, assess its effectiveness, and ensure leadership costs, accountability, and business outcomes are properly aligned.

I am working on the consent order and most of my engagements is done after the end of this month. It’s hard to feel confident I will still be employed next month. Does Citi historically layoff staff in July?

PEP stock is sitting right in the middle of 2021's range - well below 2021's year-end close of ~$159 - Can doomed PepsiCo turn things around? How much Ramon has left in the role? Is this a real business value of our Strategy & Transformation over the last 5 years?

Chief Transformation Officer - gone. Head of Future Forward rollout - gone.

No doubt Stephanie will tell us that future forward has been a roaring success and the transformation of our business is complete - so nothing left to do for the bold leaders of the future forward program as they ride triumphantly into the sunset.

Electrolux will lay off 1,255 workers at its Anderson, South Carolina plant. These layoffs begin in July due to a joint venture with Midea Group. The plant will retool to produce washers and dryers instead of refrigerators. All affected employees are eligible for rehire when the plant reopens. Workers will receive severance packages based on their tenure.

Anderson, South Carolina

https://www.southcarolinapublicradio.org/sc-news/2026-05-28/electrolux-announces-1-255-layoffs-in-anderson-amid-joint-venture-with-midea-group

Is this end game for career connect or are their other changes pending? Seems like there's less information and features available than before the transformation. What was the point?

BNY’s “transformation” machine keeps producing the same outcome: people doing real work get tossed aside, then retroactively labeled as “not a fit” to justify decisions already made in a conference room weeks earlier. The script never changes — strong reviews, solid delivery, then suddenly you’re recast or discarded as the inflexible obstacle to whatever new operating model changes leadership is worshipping this quarter.

And the part about “other opportunities”? Classic BNY fiction. They don’t offer options; they don’t offer severance… only a storyline to protect the org chart. Meanwhile, the people who kept the place running are left trying to rebuild careers while BNY congratulates itself for “modernization.”

Your experience isn’t an outlier — it’s the business model. Employees give decades; leadership gives euphemisms. And the saddest part is how many careers are derailed or forced to end earlier than planned… not with recognition, but with a carefully crafted narrative that erases the truth and replaces it with some delusion of BNY's visionary leadership and innovation.

This top 5 goal is a major change, easily categorized as transformative if anything close to that is achieved. Has anyone seen any metrics / reporting of progress on this? I don't think achieving progress on this goal is realistic without senior leaders leading the way and taking work out (reporting overload being 1). Haven't been here long, this seems like a pipe dream...generally interested in your thoughts?

BNY Pershing’s CIO came and went faster than a transformation buzzword. The British hipster swagger, the artisan‑arrogance, the 'Untuckit' shirt and white tennis shoes style and the “I’ll fix and co-locate everything in six weeks” energy — all gone. And in classic BNY fashion, the update is delivered with that beloved euphemism: “He is no longer with us.” Translation: blink and you missed him.

Survivors, how many of you are interviewing and applying somewhere else to take advantage of the higher commodity price. My guess is 50% or more of the company is at this point.

A lot of other companies are hiring and I don’t believe the “transformation is complete” narrative.

Any thoughts on this from the audience?

Companies like these get doomed because they don’t recognize people’s background, capabilities and experience. They have one lens of cost reduction. The truth is person in lower level can only make their contributions that are aligned with their pay grade. You may have heard some people say “ it is above their pay grade”. Person may have abilities but so many people may have thrown stones on someone’s career that title wise you will not see the growth. And the person may stay in the lower role because another phrase you may have heard “it pays the bills”. Do the right thing. Put people in right roles. Re-interview everyone. Listen to them. Then give them roles based on their abilities. Then watch your company reach new heights.

They won’t apply to higher positions because they don’t want to be laughed at. You have to make effort to re-recruit within the company.

Transformation does not happen using traditional methods. Think different, do things differently, re-structure differently.

I did my part, you do yours.

Go-Go has been saying for a while now that the “Transformation” that he’s inflicted on the company are going to show real results in the year 2027.
Things are going to have to pickup pretty soon because we’re nearly 5 months into 2026 and our stock is still badly lagging our 2 main competitors stock price.

Just a though, after several rounds of layoffs, there aren’t many employees left. So why do we still need so many office buildings?

Takeda Pharmaceutical plans to eliminate approximately 4,500 jobs globally. These cuts are part of a major "Transformation Program" by March 2027. The restructuring aims to consolidate departments and automate operations. This effort follows the significant revenue decline of its dr-g VYVANSE. Savings will fund new experimental dr-g launches for future growth.

https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/healthcare/articles/takeda-laying-off-4-500-204550228.html

Nike increased women in VP+ roles from 39% to 45% and minorities at Director+ level from 26% to 36% between 2021 and 2025. Considering how few senior leader roles open up each year, that’s a big change in a short time. Has the company become stronger because of it? Would Nike be in an even worse position if it hadn’t invested in DEI?

For some reason, and don't ask...lol...I did a random Nielsen search on reddit, and sure enough the first thing that came up was an 18yr old thread from back in the day during the original Nielsen demolition by Calhoun/Habib regarding their "genius" idea that deleting the "reply all" button in our Microsoft Outlook emails would save money! Lol. Man, I remember this like it was yesterday. This would have been circa 2008, about 2 years into the "transformation." And here we are all these years later!

https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/7ttuo/nielsen_deletes_replytoall_button/

Funny how things changed. We used to have strong MIM teams where directors and senior directors were actually involved — on calls, driving resolution, owning outcomes, and working side by side with delivery teams during major incidents. You knew exactly who was accountable.

Now everything seems to flow through “Common Services”(unsure of what they do. Ask them and they go in circles as well ) with layers of service owners, orchestrators, operators, governance leads… honestly sometimes it’s hard to even understand who truly owns what anymore.

Don’t get me wrong — some people in those teams do work hard. But what’s frustrating is when the people actually fixing issues, managing crisis, and carrying the operational load barely get recognized, while others who are nowhere to be found during escalations somehow end up taking all the credit in leadership updates.

Maybe I’m old school, but leadership used to mean showing up during the tough moments, not just presenting the final slide saying “we delivered.”

At times it honestly feels like more governance theater than operational leadership. Is this really what “transformation” became?

While Takeda is eliminating 4,500 roles across its global operations, the company has some 2,200 jobs currently open for hiring, for which internal candidates will be prioritized.

https://www.biospace.com/business/takedas-transformation-program-leaves-4-500-jobless

Good bye Mahmoud to Optum Insight under Candyman100x

Incoming Hari who worked for WiPro and Cognizant as your SVP

Get ready ready!

What’s the magic word these days, strategy?

Because I have to ask, what actually makes a company great?

Is it the awards? The software? The return to office mandates? The endless systems and process changes that somehow make everything more complicated but never better?

Is it leadership that rebrands failure as transformation, then asks employees to trust the next pivot?

Is it accountability, or just accountability for everyone below a certain level?

Maybe greatness now means HR has enough time to monitor salaried employees’ attendance but not enough influence to protect institutional knowledge, experience, or morale.

And maybe AI really is the perfect corporate employee. It never pushes back, never says “this does not make sense,” and never reminds leadership that people actually matter.

But what is the strategy here? Not the slogan. Not the slide deck. The actual strategy.

Because from where a lot of employees sit, it does not look like a strategy. It looks like churn. New systems, new processes, new messaging, new priorities, every few months, while the people who know how the business actually works are treated like interchangeable parts.

A company is not great because it says it is. It is great when leadership knows where it is going, tells the truth about where it is, and respects the people who built the place before asking them to believe in the next transformation. Endless transformation isn't "transformation" it's chaos that drives poor quality, subpar results and unhappy employees.

General Motors is cutting hundreds of information technology staff. These reductions will affect approximately 500 to 600 salaried employees globally. Management began notifying affected workers on Monday morning. The company's Warren Tech Center is one impacted worksite. GM stated these cuts aim to transform its IT organization for the future.

Warren, Michigan

https://www.macombdaily.com/2026/05/12/gm-layoffs-to-hit-warren-tech-center/

1. Loans taken to cover payroll. All that LHXNext savings still can't stop the debt created implosion.
2. Accelerating the full transformation into the ENRON of the defense industry.
3. 160 hours vacation and sick combined cap being enforced in certain businesses. Director level approval required above 160 hours combined.
4. Auto rejection of planned sick or vacation leave if not provided with enough advance notice. Override requires manager and second level approval.
5. Rolling layoffs still occurring.
6. Stock price down $70 from recent high of around $370. Currently around $300.
7. Insider selling accelerating.
8. RTO harassment still occurring even with commuting costs skyrocketing due to fuel spikes.
9. Outsourced IT company not getting paid due to cash flow issues. Leads to more service outages and lack of support.
10. Morale has hit a new low. Parking lots emptying rapidly after 5 PM. Only time I've ever seen people leave faster was after a 4 hr college chemistry lab was over.

Please comment with additional information regarding the state of dysfunction @ L3H

There are 50% chances that Dan might fail but there are 50% chances that he might succeed to transform..
I do see lots of negativity among Band 5 leaders.. overheard negative talk on the floor after All hands..
why can’t these middle layer leaders do not want to give it a fair chance ?
Looks like Dan made these ultra comfortable people uneasy and they are not liking it.

Republic National Distributing Co. faces upcoming operational shifts. These shifts stem from a new agreement within the industry. The beverage distribution sector is undergoing a large transformation. This transformation may impact employees in Northeast Florida. RNDC is a leading wholesale distributor of wine and spirits.

Jacksonville, Florida

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/business/employment/2026/04/24/republic-national-distributing-co-sale-could-bring-over-160-layoffs-in-jacksonville/89773463007/