It's a CEO's favorite buzzword and white-collar nightmare fuel.
From the federal government to Silicon Valley, the job market of 2025 was defined by efficiency. For business and political leaders, it has become an umbrella term to describe their leaning toward AI to streamline their workforces and improve productivity. Small bureaucracies are in vogue, and increasing shareholder value was the hottest trend this year.
But after reading those words in an internal memo, employees began to prepare for pink slips.
High interest rates, stubborn inflation, and high tariff costs have companies looking for ways to balance their budgets, prompting a wave of layoffs across companies like Dell, AT&T, and Verizon.
The White House Office of Government Efficiency launched an overhaul of the government workforce, with a particularly notable example of efficiency gains going to the private sector.
Meanwhile, chatbots are becoming increasingly capable of coding, writing, and basic administrative tasks. It has culminated in precarious job security and widespread hiring freezes, especially among college-educated office workers.
Over the past 12 months, Business Insider has spoken to job seekers, workers of all ages, business leaders, and human resources professionals to understand how the mantra of efficiency is reshaping the employment landscape and the lives of employees. While some people are excited to learn new skills, others find it impossible to keep up with rapidly changing expectations.
“I earned this degree, and it's a privilege and not everyone has that opportunity, but it didn't matter,” said Jacqueline Klein, a recent college graduate. She applied for hundreds of jobs but was unable to land a position. As long as I didn't have a job, everything was fine. ”
How 'efficiency' became the North Star in the private sector
In 2025, American corporate efficiency rhetoric has evolved from corporate values to religion.
CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Andy Jassy of Amazon, and Sundar Pichai of Google have spearheaded the Great Flattening, which involves simplifying organizational charts and removing layers of management. The bet is that using AI and reducing internal bureaucracy will lead to higher profits. This trend has led to widespread cuts in early career and middle management employment, in part to compensate for overemployment in the midst of the pandemic. It is accompanied by a cooling economic climate and a dissatisfied workforce.
“There are so many people applying for the job, and there are only a limited number of jobs,” said Charlie Kim, a 20-something who landed the Big Tech job after a long search. He added: “Getting an interview is probably more difficult than the interview itself.”
The flattening of the workforce through efficiency improvements isn't just happening in the technology industry. Airlines, financial companies, big retailers and media companies have laid off thousands of workers this year, many in office-based roles.
It's starting to show up in the data. Long-term unemployment is rising as the turnover rate has fallen. This means that companies are hiring fewer people and those who do have jobs are hesitant to change jobs. Although the United States has seen significant job growth only in health care and construction, unemployment and layoff rates remain relatively low. Employee confidence indicators show that employees don't feel very secure in their roles. That is, if they can find work.
“My dream job might exist,” Isabella Clemens said during her May graduation ceremony. “But I'm one of 400 people applying for it.”
DOGE adds fuel to the efficiency fire, but workers aren't convinced
Shortly after President Donald Trump took office in January, Elon Musk's DOGE office began cutting thousands of federal employees across various government agencies, citing a need to cut spending and reduce bureaucracy.
According to the employment report, 265,000 government workers left their jobs this year. The layoffs continued throughout the year, even though Musk resigned, DOGE was dissolved, and a court blocked some layoffs.
The DOGE cuts were part of Musk's broader call for efficiency. He sent his infamous “5 Things” email to federal employees, asking them to regularly document their job descriptions and productivity. “Failure to do so will be considered a resignation,” he said. The email followed President Trump's directive to “be more aggressive” in reducing the size of the federal bureaucracy.
It may be too early to tell whether efficiency efforts in the private and public sectors are paying off. The economic outlook for American companies remains bleak. “Tariffs,” “uncertainty,” and “inflation” are among the words frequently mentioned by executives on company conference calls, along with frequent mentions of the AI bubble.
A McKinsey report released in June found that nearly eight out of 10 companies are using generative AI, with the majority reporting “no material impact on revenue.” While this efficiency bet could save some companies in the long run, lower interest rates will likely make a more tangible difference. Musk himself said that while DOGE was a “modest” success, he would never do it again.
For workers, job searching has never been less efficient. They still need to pay their bills.
Abby Owens, who was looking for a job last summer, said, “This process has broadened my search for a lot more.'' “Originally it was very specific, but now it has grown to mean 'we're open to almost anything.'”
