The scariest word this year for workers from DC to Silicon Valley

The "efficiency" motto has driven layoffs and hiring freezes in the 2025 job market. Companies hope the cuts will save them money, but workers worry about their livelihoods. From Big Tech to the federal workforce, bureaucracy has fallen out of fashion. It's CEOs' favorite buzzword and white-collar workers' nightmare fuel. "Efficency" defined the 2025 job market from the federal government to Silicon Valley. For business and political leaders, it has become a catch-all term to signal they're leaning into AI, streamlining their workforce, and boosting productivity. A smaller bureaucracy is en vogue and increasing shareholder value was the year's hottest trend. But reading the word in a company memo has had employees bracing for a pink slip. With high interest rates, stubborn inflation, and steep tariff costs, businesses are looking for ways to balance their budgets - sparking a wave of layoffs across companies like Dell, AT&T, Verizon, and more. The White House Department of Government Efficiency launched an overhaul of the government workforce, providing an especially stark example of the efficiency push to the private sector. Chatbots, meanwhile, are becoming increasingly competent at coding, writing, and basic administrative tasks. It's culminating in tenuous job security and widespread hiring freezes , especially among college-educated office workers. Over the past twelve months, Business Insider has heard from job seekers, workers of all ages , business leaders, and HR professionals to understand how the "efficiency" motto is reshaping the jobs landscape and employee livelihoods. Some told us they're excited to learn new skills, while others feel it's impossible to keep up with rapidly changing expectations. "I had this degree - and that's a privilege, not everyone has that opportunity - but it didn't matter, said Jaqueline Kline, a recent college graduate who applied to hundreds of jobs without landing a role. "My GPA didn't matter. None of it mattered if I didn't have a job." How 'efficiency' became a North Star in the private sector In 2025, Corporate America's efficiency rhetoric evolved from a company value to a religion. CEOs like Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon's Andy Jassy, and Google's Sundar Pichai, among others, have been at the forefront of the " Great Flattening, " which involves simplifying organizational charts and removing layers of management. It's a bet that AI use and a smaller internal bureaucracy will translate to higher profits. The trend has led to a widespread reduction in early-career and middle-management jobs, partly to compensate for over-hiring at the height of the pandemic. It comes alongside a cooling economic landscape and a frustrated labor force. "There are just so many people applying to the jobs, and there's only a limited number of jobs out there," said Charley Kim, a 20-something who landed a Big Tech role after a long search. He added, "Getting an interview is probably harder than the interviews themselves." The efficiency-driven workforce flattening isn't just happening in the tech sector: Airlines, finance firms, major retailers, and media companies laid off thousands of workers this year, many of them...

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