Corporate greed is driving unprecedented wage disparities between CEOs and average employees, leading to mass layoffs and the erosion of employee benefits, often masked by justifications like AI adoption or operational efficiency.
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Corporate greed [music] is out of
control. In 2025, a study revealed that
the CEO of a tech company could earn in
one year [music] what an average
employee at the same company would make
in three centuries.
>> In 1965, [music]
the typical CEO of an American company
made 21 times what the typical worker
made. Fast forward to 2022 and CEOs were
making 344
times the typical worker. Although this
disparity [music] is not new, in recent
decades, the wage gap between CEOs and
workers has become enormous. In 2020,
the top 350 CEOs in the US made over $24
million on average. That means at my
current salary, [music] I'd have to work
over, I don't know, 281 years to make
what they made in one year. Likewise,
research showed that since 2019, tech
companies have cut more than 800,000
jobs worldwide, [music] while at the
same time, their profits have grown by
an average of 40%.
>> Nvidia, the AI titan, largely seen as
the most valuable company [music] in the
world, putting out a better thanex
expected earnings report. Revenue
soaring some 56% [music]
compared to last year. The media are
flooded with reports of mass layoffs
blamed on AI. But [music] recent studies
have shown that this may be nothing more
than an excuse for companies to reduce
their workforce without damaging their
image. This has led to concern even
among politicians who warn about the
[music] possible effects that corporate
greed could have on the labor market and
the economy.
>> We have never seen in this country the
level of corporate greed that we are
seeing right now.
>> So how corporate greed is slashing the
job market?
The insatiable greed of corporations is
nothing new. One of the most striking
examples in recent history is the case
of BlackBerry. During the early 2000s,
the company was synonymous with
innovation and expansion. The firm
dominated the smartphone market [music]
with a market share of over 40% in the
US in 2010. However, instead of [music]
reinvesting its profits into innovation
and development, the company began to
prioritize reducing operating costs and
increasing shareholder value. Starting
in 2011, management initiated massive
layoffs under the pretext [music] of
adjusting the structure to maintain
profitability, cutting nearly 5,000 jobs
in [music] a single year. Phone company
Blackberry announced plans to lay off
4,500 employees or 40% of its global
workforce. These measures were presented
as part of an efficiency plan, but in
practice, they weakened the company's
ability to innovate. With fewer
engineers and downsized teams,
BlackBerry lost ground to Apple and
Google, which during those same [music]
years were investing billions in
research, software, and user experience.
Between 2012 and 2013, BlackBerry's
sales dropped by more than 50% and its
market share fell to less than 1%. As
losses accumulated, the company
continued its cycle of layoffs and plant
closures, seeking [music] to satisfy
investors instead of rebuilding its
technological leadership. In [music]
2016, BlackBerry laid off another 200
employees and announced it would stop
manufacturing phones [music] altogether.
This decision became a prime example of
how corporate greed, disguised as
optimization, can destroy a brand that
once symbolized technological excellence.
excellence.
>> BlackBerry will no longer manufacture
[music] its own iconic phones. Oh no.
>> Even the lavish perks that once
characterized the tech industry are now
being questioned. [music] For decades,
working for a tech company had been the
dream of many because of its great
benefits. However, the waves of mass
layoffs over the past 3 years have
proven [music] that companies never had
real loyalty toward their workers. Many
of those benefits were necessary more
than they were generous gestures. They
were just tools to attract and retain
talent. [music] A clear example of this
was Google, which for years was famous
for its campuses filled with perks such
as free gourmet meals, gyms, [music]
massages, and private employee shuttles.
However, after announcing more than
12,000 [music] layoffs in 2023, roughly
6% of its global workforce, the company
also began cutting back many of those
hallmark benefits.
>> Talk about technology and the crazy
perks that these companies used to offer
to attract and retain top talent at
Silicon Valley firms. Could they be a
thing of the past as they look to cut cost
cost
>> in offices across the US and the UK?
Free lunches were eliminated for certain
[music] shifts and the number of open
cafeterias was reduced. Travel expenses
were restricted and internal
celebrations were [music] paused all
under the pretext of operational
efficiency. This however resulted in
Google reporting an increase of about
$86 [music] billion in its annual
profits. This change revealed that many
of the so-called perks presented [music]
for years as part of an innovative and
human corporate culture were in fact
strategies for recruitment and
retention. Rather than reflecting
genuine commitment, these perks
primarily served to attract and keep
employees. Once the labor market
contracted [music] and the company no
longer had to fiercely compete for
engineers, those perks became
expendable. [music] Adding to this was
the rise of artificial intelligence,
which provided the perfect excuse for
companies to reduce their workforce
[music] without tarnishing their image
in front of investors.
>> More than 500 employees woke up from a
with a text from Paycom telling them not
to go into work today. [music] The
company terminated what they call the
back office roles and replaced those
jobs with AI.
>> In practice, however, this narrative
rarely translates into significant
operational savings. For example, energy
costs, office rents, and infrastructure
maintenance expenses are barely reduced,
while [music] staff cuts generate an
immediate and quantifiable reduction in
payroll, benefits, and compensations. A
concrete example is Meta Platforms,
which between 2022 and 2023 eliminated
around 14,000 jobs, more than 10% of its
global workforce. The company claimed
that AI would improve efficiency in its
products and operations. But experts
noted that the real savings in
technological infrastructure were
marginal compared to the money saved on
salaries. [music] In fact, the company
managed to maintain and even increase
its net profits by more than 20% during
[music] that period, demonstrating that
the layoffs were more related to margin
optimization than to operational improvements.
improvements.
>> It's clear that Meta's year of
efficiency has really paid off. Many of
the measures that it took last year
helped it reduce its costs. It reduced
its headcount and even with this leaner
team and operations, it was really able
to exceed expectations. Google has
followed a similar pattern. In 2023, it
cut approximately 6% of its workforce
while reporting revenues of 307 billion,
a 9% increase from the previous year.
Corporate statements emphasized AI as a
driver of efficiency. For example, Rick
Smith, CEO of Axon Enterprises, [music]
received total compensation of $165
million in 2024, more than a,000 times
[music] the average salary of his
employees. In Amazon's case, the
disparity reached even higher levels.
Andy Jasse, the company's CEO, received
total compensation of $40 million in
2024, driven mainly by stock valuation.
In contrast, [music] the average Amazon
employee earned less than $38,000 per
year, meaning Jasse made more than a
thousand times a typical worker's
salary. This inequality worsens when top
executives receive record bonuses for
meeting efficiency goals. a polite way
of saying they [music] managed to lay
off more people and reduce labor costs.
But this has not gone unnoticed by
public opinion. 87% of Americans believe
this disparity to be a problem.
>> While in the previous decade, the
[music] tech sector was seen as a driver
of global prosperity with startups
growing, programmers earning high
salaries and large corporations
celebrated for driving digital change.
Now that same sector has become the main
engine of structural inequality,
resembling the financial world more than
the innovative one. Technology, which
once promised to free people from
repetitive tasks and open new
opportunities for growth, is now being
used as an argument to eliminate them.
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