[31 AUG] PAPER CUT: Cuts, Checklists and the Big Stay

AI promises savings, managers disappear, and workers hunker down. The storyline this week is simple, prove value or lose trust.

By EBN 8 min read
Close-up of scissors slicing through a stack of one-dollar bills against a cracked concrete wall, symbolizing cost cutting that weakens foundations and creates hidden costs.
Cheap cuts look tidy until the cracks show.

Corporate America is tidying the org chart like a closet clear-out. Morgan Stanley says AI could carve hundreds of billions from costs, Google trims a third of managers, and lab talent keeps slipping the net. At the same time, offices are filling on some days and ignored on others, with leaders rediscovering that presence without purpose is just theatre.

Here is the through-line. Companies want results they can count, employees want rules they can respect, and the labour market is easing into a long hold pattern. The winners will make fewer promises, design better work, and publish the receipts.

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