According to widespread reports of a research note from investment bank TD Cowen, Oracle is evaluating cuts of 20,000 to 30,000 employees from its 162,000-person workforce.

When remote work does become a required accommodation rather than a voluntary arrangement, employer obligations extend beyond approving the request.

HR leaders do not need to wait for the economy to rebalance to address what workers are feeling. Compensation transparency, meaningful feedback structures and leaders who model vulnerability are tools available now.

"We already have huge redeployment plans for our own people; in fact, we spoke about it today, and we have to up that a little bit," Dimon said during his Q&A session with analysts.

In just the last year, CEOs at Walmart, Target and Disney have either announced their exits or begun actively planning handoffs, while Apple's board is reportedly accelerating its own succession timeline.

One is cutting headcount and telling employees that the workforce will shrink. The other is investing in skills, certifications and manager training while insisting that its future is "people-led, tech-powered."

The convergence of record layoffs and record business formations does not appear to be a coincidence. Data suggests these are connected patterns that could touch talent acquisition, workforce classification and internal communications.

In the company's fourth-quarter earnings release, CEO Steve Cahillane announced that Kraft Heinz would pause the separation and redirect resources toward a $600 million investment in marketing, sales, research and development, product improvements and pricing.