For years, those of us watching the constant churn within the C-Suite and the corresponding ripple effect of nonsensical Leadership appointments at the VP level have known the Titanic was heading straight towards the Iceberg. It has been a constant stream of terrible decision making based on BS forecasts, endorsed by CEOs, CPOs, CDOs, COOs, and their operatives. But to hear of the depth of recent layoffs just reinforces that the Titanic has in fact hit the Iceberg. Although we saw it coming, it is still painful to watch truly good and talented people trying to find a lifeboat as the ship sinks.
4 replies (most recent on top)
To be clear, Toronto wasn't really a significant location (and still really isn't) until the government basically told them they would lose tax breaks if they didn't have more headcount. Just like Zug, the only reason we're there is for tax purposes. There are no significant business units in either of those locations, but having leadership there "counts" for tax purposes. For a company with a majority of its products and revenue focused in and around the US, they're really trying their best to reduce their US footprint because they don't want to pay US salaries. Basically, they want their cake and to eat it too. Normalized corporate strategy these days, though.
My favorite is that a few of the Canadian execs have begun openly admitting that they know nothing about the business. “We’re here for tax purposes but don’t actually know what’s going on…”
TR (and its legacy units, particularly in legal) hit the iceberg decades ago with the mergers, sales, and looting of the constituent businesses. What we were floating on since then were the lifeboats, not the Titanic. Now, the lifeboats and rafts are taking on water too. The executive leadership have long since pushed the women and children out of the way and appropriated the getaway yachts for themselves.
Absolutely top notch talent and so much institutional knowledge out the door. The overseas talent recruiting is getting better (like now people with at least a little work experience), but with the super high turnover rates no knowledge is retained and processes get dropped - I guess this is when we learn which processes didn’t need to happen.