Comment by vundercind

I think workers in prior generations (largely Silent and early Boomer) told us exactly what deviance was becoming normalized starting in the 70s through the 90s: managers who’d only ever managed, and don’t much care what they’re managing. MBAs and finance majors replacing the people who might not have any degree but did know what actual labor the company did and how the productive (not spreadsheets) side of the business functions, because they had personally done some of it for years.

They’re still around to ask about this stuff.

I think cutting way back on antitrust enforcement starting in the mid 70s accelerated the shift (that part, you may or may not hear from the older workers who watched this happening—though I bet their stories include some M&A activity as inflection points)