Older, larger firms in particular can raise both their earnings and their output while cutting jobs. One way is by trimming layers of bureaucracy that have accrued over the years. Some big companies grow by acquiring other companies, and they may seek economies of scale by consolidating the engineering or administrative staffs. Or, a big firm may exit a struggling line of business—an example would be an auto company dropping a brand or model that doesn’t sell strongly—in which case some of the division’s employees (but usually not all) are shifted into building up the company’s healthier lines. .
