Why Finance Is Failing Workers: Dr. Peter Cappelli on Our Least Important Asset

Dr. Peter Cappelli, one of the world’s foremost experts on human resources and workforce management, joins as the George W. Taylor Professor of Management at The Wharton School and Director of Wharton’s Center for Human Resources, sharing key insights from his acclaimed book Our Least Important Asset: Why the Relentless Focus on Finance and Accounting is Bad for Business and Employees, which challenges prevailing corporate priorities.

This book argues that modern corporations increasingly treat employees as expendable costs rather than core assets, largely because financial accounting rules and investor pressures reward headcount reduction and short-term savings over long-term people development. It describes a shift back toward Theory X-style control and surveillance, highlights how policies like “unlimited vacation” and AI initiatives often prioritize balance-sheet optics and cost-cutting, and calls on HR leaders to quantify hidden people costs and advocate directly with CEOs for more employee-centric strategies.

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