The Humanity Reduction Machine

Corporate-Speak That Strips Away Your Humanity

Do you ever feel like your workplace sees you as something less than human?

That nagging feeling isn't paranoia, it's recognition.

The language of business has systematically erased the humanity from our work lives, replacing it with clinical terms that would make even George Orwell wince.

The cruel irony?

...and everyone knows I love irony!

In an age of advancing technology, AI, and automation, our humanity is precisely what will set us apart!

Yet corporate language has been working overtime to strip it away.

The "corporate world" has mastered the art of linguistic sleight-of-hand, using pleasant-sounding euphemisms to mask uncomfortable truths. They've created an entire vocabulary designed to distance decision-makers from the human impact of their choices.

After all, it's much easier to "reduce headcount" than to "fire people with mortgages and children."

This isn't accidental.

Language shapes thought, and thought shapes action.

"Words matter. And the order of words matter." - a Clarism

When people become "human capital," it becomes perfectly reasonable to trade them like any other resource. When employees transform into "FTEs," compassion becomes an inefficiency.

Let's tear down this verbal facade and expose the dehumanizing doublespeak for what it really is.

What follows is your translation guide to what corporations really mean when they talk about you...the inconveniently human element in a profit equation.

Here is the Corporate Lingo Bingo translator:

• "Human Capital" Your humanity reduced to an economic unit. Congratulations on your promotion from person to depreciating asset.

• "Our People Are Our Greatest Asset" Funny how these "assets" don't appear on any balance sheet, receive minimal investment, and are first to be liquidated when profits dip. Actual assets are accounted for, protected, and invested in.

• "Staff" Descended from feudal servant terminology. Apparently, your CEO is the lord of the manor and you're there to polish the silver. "These are my staff..." (said with an all mightier than thou tone)

• "People Are Our Largest Expense" Wrong. Payroll is your expense. People are the reason your company hasn't collapsed under the weight of executive incompetence.

• "Human Resources" Placing humans in the same category as raw materials, printer paper and office chairs. How dignifying.

• "Headcount" Because reducing complex individuals to a number helps executives sleep at night when they "reduce" you.

• "Full-Time Equivalent (FTE)" We've advanced beyond counting whole humans - now you're just a fractional labor unit. Progress!

• "Labor Force" A term that makes physicists and military generals equally comfortable while making actual humans uncomfortable.

• "Bodies" "We need more bodies on this project." Could management possibly be more dehumanizing? (Don't answer that—they'll try.)

• "Cost Center" The department where all the actual work happens, labeled as a financial burden rather than the engine of value.

• "We're All Family Here" Strange how this "family" practices laying off members during tough quarters or replacing them with cheaper alternatives from overseas.

• "Human Capital Management" We've created entire software systems designed to track and optimize humans as if they were inventory.

• "Recurring Expense" Amazing how your livelihood is viewed as an annoying monthly subscription the company wishes it could cancel.

• "Work-life balance" As long as the "work" part consistently wins and "life" gets the leftovers after 60-hour weeks.

• "Be a team player" We need you to sacrifice your personal time without complaint while executive bonuses remain untouched.

A Brave New World: Humans, Not Resources

There is a better way. Imagine workplaces that treat people as human beings, not human doings. Where we're valued for our creativity, passion, and unique perspectives, not just our output or billable hours.

The revolution begins with language. Words matter.

What if we abandoned ego-based operating systems and adopted ecosystems of leadership instead?

What if we provided resources for humans rather than viewing humans as resources?

The most innovative companies are already making this shift. They understand that seeing "people as humans first, employees second" isn't just ethical...it's profitable.

When leaders become coaches rather than bosses, when they delegate outcomes rather than tasks, and when they involve people in decisions about their own work, something remarkable happens: engagement soars, innovation flourishes, and yes, profits follow.

We don't need to accept being reduced to line items on a spreadsheet.

We can demand workplaces where we don't just work but belong.

Where leadership is about purpose, not hierarchy.

Where decisions are shared, not dictated.

It's time to evolve the world of work.

To create environments where people and purpose come first, and profit naturally follows.

Because the truth is, we're not your capital, your resources, or your greatest expense.

We're human beings with dreams, goals, and aspirations.

And any company that fails to recognize that doesn't just fail us, it fails itself.

"It's not just about being the best in the world, it's about being best for the world." - a Clarism

It's time to lead different.

Together, we can evolve the world of work

Dave Clare, CEO & Founder of Circle Leadership

www.circleleadershipglobal.com