2023届高考英语二轮复习外刊阅读训练：大公司如何裁员

23年高考英语外刊阅读训练——阅读理解：大公司如何裁员 【原标题】 How Big Companies Choose Who Is Laid Off 【原文】 Soon after a company decides to cut its head count, the debate begins: Who should go? In the current economic environment, a final decision can take weeks, according to executives and corporate advisers. Workers remain in short supply, raising the stakes of determining who is expendable and who is worth keeping. With layoffs that target corporate staff, department heads often take the lead and human resources troubleshoots their lists, which can lead to intense debate and multiple rewrites. Seniority once guided layoffs at many U.S. businesses, with companies eliminating junior employees first. Today it is more common for companies to conduct layoffs based on skills rather than tenure, according to human-resources executives. An employee’s recent performance will likely factor heavily into any decision. Employees with high salaries also might face greater attention, though advisers said those workers might be among a company’s top performers. At many companies, top leaders, including the chief executive officer and chief financial officer, often set high-level criteria for a layoff, mandating that a company cut a certain percentage of its workforce, for example, or reach a specified cost savings. Some confine layoffs to specific areas. Boeing Co. earlier this year said it planned to cut 2,000 jobs primarily in finance and human resources, while hiring in engineering. Amazon said its latest cuts would mostly be concentrated in its cloud-computing, advertising and Twitch streaming businesses. The task of deciding who should be eliminated often falls to divisional leaders and department heads, according to executives. The business-software company Okta Inc. in February said it would cut 300 employees, or 5% of staff, after the company said it overhired during the pandemic. Many departments across the company were given specific financial cost-cutting targets to meet, said CEO Todd McKin