IBM

Most of the "PROS" were diminished from 2008 until I left, but they were:

PBCs: In the beginning, your goal was to support the goal of your direct manager. You were treated as a professional and given the ability to define how you would support those goals, and you were measured by the success. This meant something, at least in the departments I was in, for many years. In recent years, they became a joke.

WFH: This was a blessing for a long time; it afforded work/life balance. It became a means for 24x7 days as commitments were outsourced around the globe.

Bungee Cord Management: obvious use of "3" rankings to push out those with the most experience, due to their higher salaries and age. This became routine over the years. We witnessed star performers get shoved out the door, and we grappled with covering their responsibilities. Those of us left to pick up the pieces knew their performance was NOT weak.

Rather than treat your senior staff like chattel in order to meet your EPS, why not be honest and give them an opportunity to take a reduction in pay for a period?

Many would have opted to continue their career through the tough times, and you could have maintained the skills—if you really wanted to maintain the skills.

I'm beginning to think that is not really the plan, based on crowdsourcing, etc.