This Week, Every Decision Got Made Without the People It Affects

Legal & General, Admiral, BBC Sport, Novo Nordisk, Porsche and Microsoft all cut jobs this week, while new research finds nearly half of CHROs are excluded from AI strategy entirely. Add graduates fighting brutal odds for entry-level roles and women over 50 quietly pushed out, and the pattern holds.

By EBN 11 min read
Employees excluded from workplace decisions affecting layoffs, AI strategy and hiring, employer branding news September 2026
Nearly half of CHROs aren't even in the room when AI strategy gets decided.

Legal & General is cutting 1,000 jobs. Admiral is cutting 500. BBC Sport is cutting staff and axing bulletins. Novo Nordisk has shed 13,000 in the past year. Porsche could be next for another 4,000. Microsoft has started a fresh round tied to its Xbox "reset." Six companies, six sectors, one week. None of the people affected were in the room when any of those decisions got made, and neither, according to new research out this week, are most of the people whose job it technically is to be there: 46% of organisations exclude their CHRO from AI strategy decisions altogether. The same pattern, being decided about rather than decided with, runs through who gets hired, who gets promoted, and who gets believed this week too.

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