Efficiency Isn’t a Strategy. Humanity Is.

This week, The Wall Street Journal ran a piece highlighting the newest badge of honor in corporate America: the lowest possible headcount.

Think about that. Not revenue growth. Not innovation. Not even productivity. Just… how few people you can employ while still squeezing out profits.

We’ve arrived at a point where boasting about not hiring people is the end game. And honestly, that tells you almost everything you need to know about where we are as a society. And it feels so broken.

Where It Started: Dodge v. Ford & Reaganomics

Let’s rewind to two pivotal moments:

🔹 In Dodge v. Ford Motor Co. (1919), the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that a company’s primary obligation was to maximize shareholder value. Not to pay fair wages, not to build community, not to reinvest. Just line the pockets of the already-wealthy.

🔹 Then, in the 1980s, Reaganomics blew the lid off executive pay caps and corporate tax responsibility which ushered in a mindset that the rich just needed more room to win, and everyone else would somehow catch up with trickle-down economics.

Spoiler: that didn't happen, and it shouldn't have been a surprise. 60 years prior, Dodge v. Ford already ensured Reaganomics wouldn't be successful for anyone besides the rich.

We’ve seen four decades of wage stagnation, record-breaking inequality, broken healthcare, unaffordable housing, burnout, layoffs, and an ever-widening wealth gap that no amount of "cutting back on lattes" is going to fix.

How Did We Normalize This?

Somewhere along the way, we stopped asking why this was happening and started blaming each other.

We shame people for needing help. We mock people for not getting ahead. We tell workers to “stop complaining” while billionaires make $100 million in a day and cry foul when asked to pay taxes.

Why is the default narrative “buy fewer avocados if you can’t afford rent” instead of “maybe don’t buy your fourth yacht if your workers can’t pay for insulin”?

Why do we act like efficiency is more noble than humanity?

Why is the goal not to build strong, healthy, employed communities, but rather to automate, outsource, and “optimize” our way into short-term wins that leave scorched earth behind for all but a few?

So Now What?

We’ve all heard companies talk about how “people are our greatest asset.” But how many are actually investing in people vs. eliminating them to make the next earnings call look good?

It’s not just depressing, it’s short-sighted.

Not only because AI can't buy your products. But because people remember. They remember how they were treated. They remember which brands put humanity first and which ones cut corners to prop up margins. And hopefully people can stop blaming each other and start looking upward.

So maybe, just maybe, the companies who prioritize people (who pay living wages, who train junior staff, who make room for new talent, who don’t treat headcount as a liability) will actually win in the long run. I hope.

What Can We Do?

We can ask better questions. And take action. I, for one, have stopped buying at Amazon, Target and Walmart and have tried to be thoughtful about spending. I know that is not a luxury everyone can afford, but I can't bemoan the loss of small businesses if I am buying from Amazon every time just to save $5.

• As consumers: support businesses that invest in people, not just shareholders.

• As employees: push for transparency, accountability, and values beyond just profits.

• As leaders: build companies that measure success in more than efficiency.

• As voters: hold policymakers accountable for creating systems that protect people, not just capital.

Because if the current system only works for the few, then it doesn’t actually work.

Is There Hope?

Some countries are making moves: Iceland’s four-day workweek trial, Spain’s experimentation with universal basic income. Even in the U.S., there’s growing demand for labor protections, equitable pay, and more human-centered capitalism.

It’s not enough yet. But it’s something.

And maybe the differentiator of the future won’t be the most “optimized” company. It’ll be the one that still treats people like they matter.

Maybe that’s not just good ethics. Maybe it’s good business, too.

Want share a story of a company/industry getting it right? I’d love to hear it. Because we need more examples to point to, and fewer excuses to look away.