[overfeed]

> "bosses" accomplish this by saying "let's reduce the cost of doing business" to someone who actually does whatever is needed

I don't know where you work, but in my experience, headcount reductions are strictly a top-down exercise. At best, the bosses may ask line managers who the essential people on their teams are. At worst, they get handed a list of people to fire, and they themselves may get the boot right after.

[whstl]

Yeah, that's the whole point. "Some boss says reduce head count" and that's the amount of "work" done from that "boss".

Even the execution of "reducing head count" is done by everyone else.