U.S. public companies have reduced their white-collar workforces by a collective 3.5% over the past three years, according to employment data-provider Live Data Technologies. Over the past decade, one in five companies in the S&P 500 have shrunk.
I’m not sure but along the way an expanding headcount collided with leverage. Companies aren’t scaling linearly so more revenue is being generated by smaller headcount. It doesn’t feel great, but the shareholder doctrine demands its returns. So here we are.
Quote Citation: https://www.wsj.com/news/author/lauren-weber, “The Biggest Companies Across America Are Cutting Their Workforces - WSJ”, 2025-06-18, https://www.wsj.com/business/the-biggest-companies-across-america-are-cutting-their-workforces-a0e8739a