Think for a minute. The reason up has gone through wave after wave of layoff/forced retirement/hr botched initiatives/scare people off/ or implicate them in a manufactured crisis, is simple.
The deep rooted nepotism, cronyism, old boy network, and questionable hiring practices to maintain a healthy corporate image have over time weakened the organization to the point it exposed itself to the activist investor stalking them from afar. This has festered for decades. Even under jim and jack.
Wall st "analysts" got wind or a whiff of hunters oxygen, and set thier eyes of the armour yellow buffalo.
Board saw this coming, and then focused on g55 and tried to shift thier culture. It was too late. Bain, teachers union, blackrock were licking thier chompers. Knight frantically bought back shares (read: money coming right out of your pocket, goldenhandcuffer)
Up refused to get the right talent in, spend on projects that may have low current roi to strengthen the network for the future. Competition passed them by. Meanwhile, thier good people left on thier own accord, and everyone else became a casualty in the death spiral.
Moral of the story: work for a company that sets higher standards and had much better executive team leaderhip than these doofuses.
There are much better jobs out there. For most of you, this is a blessing in disguise. For those left, better decide if houston or fort worth fits your bill.