ASML posted record sales of €32.7 billion last year. Then cut 1,700 management roles. ABN Amro announced 5,200 job cuts by 2028. Philips has been reducing layers for over a year. Globally, over 80,000 tech #jobs were cut in Q1 alone. Google removed 35% of its managers last year. None of these companies are in trouble. All of them are removing the middle. This pattern showed up in last week's Q1 2026 overview and it's shaping the current landscape so much that I wanted to do a

If you scroll long enough, you'd think the world of #work is only getting worse. But that's not entirely true. In 2025, some things genuinely moved in the right direction, and beyond that, there are quietly uplifting shifts taking place and real opportunities starting to form. That's why, in this two-part post, I'm choosing to focus on hope. Here's my take as we head into the new year. AI Is No Longer a Concept. It's a Working Tool. Stanford's 2025 #AI Index confirmed somethi

No leader enters a role hoping to fire people. Yet at some point, every leader faces it. Sometimes because #performance is not improving or because the business changes and budgets shrink. Either way, involuntary exits test not only your leadership skills but also your integrity. This is part 2 of a two-part series. Check out last week's post for part 1 on voluntary exits. Performance based exits ✔️Step 1: Understand the legal background Performance management must sit on a s

Chances are that you're probably doing nothing wrong. The job market has stagnated over the past year or so. Just look at the statistics:...