Wiry or Weakened, the New Corporate Image?

Okay, it might sound like sour grapes but my former company managed to lean itself out of existence. They started by cutting technical support personnel (tech writers, draftsmen, installers, admin support) so engineers and lower managers became overloaded. Then they cut upper and middle management, which would have been a good thing but they replaced them with inexperienced and lazy friends of the owners. The combination of those cuts and the weakened economy after 9/11 dropped our revenues by half. Management's response was to cut most of the higher salaried engineering and project management staff. They cut head count by 50% but in the process lost 80% of their experience and credentials. Revenues dropped by another 50% as they couldn't respond to new business and support old customers. After a couple more years they had no contracts left and couldn't borrow any more money.