This article hints at some unwise tactics.

"Lay off the youngest or oldest": I thought that this was illegal. Age is certainly a very poor indicator of peoples' worth to the organization.

"Refuse redundancy to trained people": There is no point in forcing people to stay. They will soon leave such a poor employer, or just lose their motivation.

"Scheme secretly with small groups": This will leave a fatal legacy of suspicion.

"Wall off vital skill sets": Sounds like a good hint for this group to set up their own company and sell their vital skills at a higher price.

There seems to be a great myth amongst some "executives" that everyone else is incapable of adapting or learning.

In one organization, the 60 year old director decreed that everyone else over 35 was "past it" and must be layed off!

Another company retained my services because they had recently layed off large numbers of staff as part of a "re-skilling" exercise and had no-one left capable of completing their contracts. Their HR "executive" was hardly out of college and certainly knew very little of their business (or any business). Subsequently, customers lost confidence and the company folded.

Obviously organizations grow and decline, but no organization can thrive unless the staff feel respected and valued. Dictatorial management styles soon fail. (Although sometimes only after the dictator has moved on and left others to pick up the pieces.)