Ep 5 - The Capacity Mismatch Nobody Is Talking About

The layoff numbers are still coming in.So far in 2026, over 60,000 tech workers have been cut. In 2025, the total was nearly 245,000 across the sector. Amazon cut 16,000 roles - while simultaneously reporting record revenue of $716.9 billion. Microsoft. Meta. Companies with strong financial performance making significant headcount reductions in the same quarter.The pattern is consistent. Headcount down. Revenue expectations unchanged.Inside $1m-$50m businesses, the same logic is playing out at a smaller scale. Teams are leaner than they were two years ago. Hiring is tightly controlled. But the growth targets set in January haven’t moved.So the marketing team is doing more with less. The founder is doing more with less. Everyone is doing more with less. And the expectation is that focus and efficiency will fill the gap that headcount used to fill.Sometimes it does. Often it doesn’t.Here’s what I see when this goes wrong. The team is stretched across too many channels, too many campaigns, too many competing priorities. Each one gets partial attention. None of them gets enough. Results are inconsistent because the effort is inconsistent - not because the strategy is wrong, but because there isn’t enough capacity to execute any single strategy properly.The answer most businesses reach for is hiring. But the businesses I see handling this well aren’t hiring their way out of it. They’re cutting their way out of it.Fewer channels. Fewer campaigns. One or two things done exceptionally well rather than eight things done adequately. When you’re operating with a leaner team, concentration isn’t a compromise - it’s the only strategy that works.The capacity mismatch is real. The way through it isn’t trying to do everything with fewer people. It’s deciding what not to do.What used to be solved with headcount now needs to be solved with focus. And that’s actually a harder decision than hiring.If you’re sitting with a leaner team and the same targets, I’d be curious what you’ve decided to stop. Hit reply.Source reference: Network World / RationalFX analysis, March 2026 - Tech layoffs surpass 45,000 in early 2026. Amazon record revenue cited from same report. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.cmofieldnotes.com