Every time I read of one more big company announcing large layoffs – in just the first two months of 2024, over 42,000 jobs were chopped from technology firms such as Amazon, Apple and Microsoft – the vision that floats into view is of an American corporate figure named Albert Dunlap, better known as “Chainsaw Al”.

The late Mr Dunlap, whose career ended in an accounting scandal, was known in the 1990s as the ultimate cost-cutter, a “Rambo in pinstripes”. All too often, his solutions to improve efficiency began with making deep cuts in personnel – in his first major announcement at Sunbeam Corp, he said he was halving its workforce.