🌤️HR天文台 | Bolt 解散整個 HR 部門，世界從此變得更美好？是譁眾取寵？還是金石良言？
美國科技獨角獸 Bolt 的創辦人 Ryan Breslow 宣佈裁撤整個人力資源（HR）部門。他甚至公開直指：HR 經常在公司內部製造不存在的問題，而自從沒有了 HR 部門後，那些麻煩就一夜消失了。然而，他在高調擺脫傳統 HR 後，轉頭就成立了僅由兩人組成的 People Ops Team。
他的言論引發激烈論戰：
- 反對者批評：他只是自欺欺人，把揭發問題的消防員炒掉，就假裝天下太平；甚至只是把公司表現欠佳的黑鑊卸給 HR。
- 法律專家警告：沒有 HR 防線的公司，未來將面臨巨大的勞資法律與合規風險。
- 支持者大力支持：他敢作敢為，打破了大企業的官僚體制。
要了解為何 Breslow 為何有解散 HR 的決定，甚至後續他的「反 HR」言論，我們必須了解 Bolt 的處境。
📉 Bolt 的興衰史及現時處境
瘋狂崛起（2014 – 2022年）
Bolt 由 Ryan Breslow 於 2014 年創立，乘著疫情期間全球電子商貿平台爆發的東風迅速崛起。
- 和平時期的巔峰：2022 年初，Bolt 完成 E 輪融資，估值飆升至驚人的 110 億美元，全球員工數一度擴張至數千人的規模。當時公司處於 Breslow 所稱的和平時期（Peacetime），大力推行員工福利，包括率先推行「每週工作四天制」和「無限有薪假」。
泡沫破裂與內部鬥爭（2022 – 2024年）
好景不長，隨著美聯儲加息、科技泡沫破裂，加上 Bolt 被指控涉嫌誇大商戶數據，公司陷入重重危機。
- 創辦人退位與估值暴跌：Breslow 在 2022 年因與董事會及投資者衝突而被迫卸任 CEO。隨後幾年，公司經歷了數輪大裁員、高層頻繁變動、大股東的法律訴訟，以及美國證券交易委員會的調查。至2024 年，Bolt 的二級市場估值慘烈暴跌 97%。
創辦人回歸與「戰時轉型」（2025 – 2026年）
2025 年 3 月，Breslow 與大股東達成和解並重新奪回 CEO 寶座。他宣佈 Bolt 進入徹底的戰爭時期（Wartime），並開始了一系列激進改革，包括：
- 清洗驕縱文化：全面取消每週工作四天制與無限有薪假，強制推行狼性文化。
- 裁撤整個 HR 部門：在 2026 年 5 月的 Fortune 峰會上，高調宣佈解僱整個 HR 部門，指控其製造內部矛盾，將職能交給 AI 和 2 人的 People Ops 後勤小組。
- 團隊極端縮水：過去幾千人的大公司，經歷大換血後，目前員工總數已縮減至僅剩約 60 到 100 人。高達 99% 無法適應 Wartime 的高薪資深管理層被淘汰，留下的多是更年輕、成本更低、願意高強度加班的精英員工。
🔍 不需要 HR 的真相
在了解 Bolt 的處境後，就不難發現其不需要 HR 的真正原因。Breslow 亦在峰會上坦言，其他穩定、人數龐大的公司可能真的需要 HR，但不適合現在的 Bolt。
當 Breslow 重返公司，面對的是不合適的文化、過度支出、錯誤的市場策略、產品設計等。在公司生死存亡的關頭，老闆要的是生存手段（生意），道德、合規等事情只要做好基本就夠了，畢竟，當公司連有沒有明天都成疑時，無法提供商業策略的 HR，自然成了不必要的成本。而無關於生存的所有行政事宜，對此刻的公司而言更是絆腳石。再加上員工只剩幾十人，傳統 HR 的行政功能更失去了必要性。
💡回顧歷史：HR 的價值，從來由戰場定義
HR 並不是一開始就存在的：
- 工業革命時代：需要有人負責看管童工、改善工廠衛生，所以設立福利秘書（Welfare Secretaries）。
- 兩次世界大戰爆發：軍隊與後方工廠急需在短時間內篩選、培訓和分配數百萬人，人事部（Personnel Department）應運而生。
- 現代經濟轉型：白領和高科技人才成為主流，勞工法例日益嚴苛，人事部正式演變成「人力資源部（HR）」，承擔起文化、培訓與法規合規。
後來，有不少 HR 大師的出現，例如 William J. Conaty ，他提出的活力曲線（Vitality Curve / 20-70-10 法則）、Session C人才評核，以及主導無縫接軌的CEO 繼任計劃，真正令 HR 這個部門名揚千里。值得注意的是，幾乎每位被奉為大師的 HR，他們都極度熟悉公司業務，他們的策略都是直接為商業利益帶來巨大貢獻。
HR 因「需要」而生，因「價值」而受追捧。
Bolt 的故事不是 HR 的終點，而是一通警號。它提醒了我們：當企業處於 Peacetime，大家都有閒情逸致談道德、福利；但當 Wartime來臨，唯一能令 HR 有價值的，從來不是制度或合規的盾牌，而是能否具備商業思維，直接幫公司打勝仗的刀槍。如果 HR 只持有盾牌，就只有被貶為People Ops 的一張單程票。
在這場「反 HR 」的風氣中，你手裡拿的是盾牌，還是刀槍？
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🌤️HR Observatory | Bolt Dissolves Its Entire HR Department: Is the World a Better Place? Grandstanding or Pure Wisdom?
The most heated debate in the HR community recently centers around Ryan Breslow, founder of US tech unicorn Bolt, who announced the complete dissolution of his human resources (HR) department. He went as far as openly claiming that HR constantly manufactures problems that do not exist, and that once the HR department was gone, those troubles vanished overnight. However, behind this high-profile dismissal of traditional HR, he immediately turned around and established a skeleton “People Ops Team” consisting of just two people.
His remarks have sparked a fierce war of words:
- Critics argue: He is simply in denial—firing the firefighters who expose internal flaws just to pretend everything is fine, or worse, using HR as a scapegoat for the company’s poor performance.
- Legal experts warn: Operating without an HR defense line leaves a company exposed to massive labor law and compliance risks in the future.
- Supporters cheer: They praise his boldness in shattering the rigid bureaucracy plaguing large corporations.
To understand Breslow’s radical decision and his subsequent “anti-HR” rhetoric, we must first look closely at Bolt’s critical situation.
📉 The Rise, Fall, and Present Reality of Bolt
The Meteoric Rise (2014 – 2022)
Founded by Ryan Breslow in 2014, Bolt rode the wave of the global e-commerce boom during the pandemic.
- The Peacetime Peak: In early 2022, Bolt closed its Series E funding round, vaulting its valuation to a staggering $11 billion and expanding its global workforce to thousands. The company was in what Breslow calls “Peacetime,” aggressively rolling out progressive employee benefits, including a trailblazing “four-day workweek” and “unlimited paid time off (PTO).”
The Bubble Burst and Internal Strife (2022 – 2024)
The honeymoon did not last. With the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates, the tech bubble bursting, and Bolt facing allegations of inflating merchant metrics, the company plunged into a severe crisis.
- Founder Stepping Down and Valuation Collapse: Breslow was forced to step down as CEO in 2022 following clashes with the board and investors. Over the next few years, Bolt endured multiple rounds of mass layoffs, executive revolving doors, lawsuits from major shareholders, and an SEC investigation. By 2024, its secondary market valuation collapsed by 97%, bottoming out at just $300 million.
The Founder’s Return and “Wartime Transformation” (2025 – 2026)
In March 2025, Breslow settled with major shareholders and reclaimed the CEO throne. Declaring that Bolt had entered an absolute “Wartime” mode, he launched a series of cutthroat reforms:
- Purging the Culture of Entitlement: He eliminated the four-day workweek and unlimited PTO, enforcing a strict, high-pressure “wolf culture.”
- Abolishing the HR Department: At Fortune’s Workforce Innovation Summit in May 2026, he high-profilely fired the entire HR team, accusing them of creating internal friction. He handed their responsibilities over to AI and a two-person People Ops team.
- Extreme Headcount Dehydration: Following this massive shakeup, the company’s total headcount shrunk to just 60 to 100 employees. Breslow purged 99% of the senior executives who couldn’t adapt to Wartime, leaving a lean team of younger, lower-cost, and high-intensity elite workers.
🔍 The Brutal Truth Behind “No HR Needed”
Looking at Bolt’s fight for survival, the real reason it “doesn’t need HR” becomes painfully obvious. Breslow himself admitted at the summit that while stable, massive corporations might truly require traditional HR, it simply does not fit Bolt’s current reality.
Upon his return, Breslow was confronted with an misaligned culture, bleeding expenses, botched market strategies, and flawed product designs. When a company is on the brink of extinction, the leader cares only about survival tactics (business revenue)—morals and compliance take a back seat, requiring only the bare minimum. After all, when a company’s very existence tomorrow is in question, an HR department that only knows how to enforce standard protocols without offering commercial strategy naturally becomes an unnecessary cost. Anything non-essential to survival is seen as a stumbling block. Coupled with a workforce of just a few dozen people, traditional HR administrative functions lose all baseline necessity.
💡 Looking Back at History: The Value of HR is Always Defined by the Battlefield
HR was never part of the original corporate landscape:
- The Industrial Revolution: Companies appointed “Welfare Secretaries” because they needed someone to oversee child labor, improve factory hygiene, and arrange basic medical care.
- The World Wars: The military and wartime factories desperately needed to screen, train, and deploy millions of individuals in record time, giving rise to the “Personnel Department.”
- The Modern Economic Shift: As white-collar and high-tech talent became mainstream and labor regulations grew increasingly strict, personnel departments evolved into “Human Resources (HR),” taking on corporate culture, mental wellness, talent development, and legal compliance.
Later, legendary HR pioneers stepped onto the stage. Leaders like William J. Conaty (the HR icon of General Electric) popularized the Vitality Curve (the 20-70-10 rule), Session C talent reviews, and seamless C-suite succession planning, cementing HR’s seat at the executive table. Crucially, every celebrated HR master possessed deep commercial acumen; their strategies were designed to drive bottom-line business success.
HR was born out of necessity, and it was championed because of its commercial value.
Bolt’s story is not the funeral of HR; it is a piercing wake-up call. It serves as a stark reminder to all HR practitioners: when a business is in “Peacetime,” everyone has the luxury to talk about ethics, wellness, and perks. But when “Wartime” arrives, the only thing that keeps HR relevant is not the defensive shield of policies or compliance—it is the sword of commercial acumen that helps the CEO win the battle. If an HR professional only carries a shield, they are holding a one-way ticket to being downgraded to basic People Ops.
In this global wave of “anti-HR” sentiment, what are you holding in your hands right now? A defensive shield, or an offensive weapon?
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參考資料 Reference:
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RIrAg91scY
HR Magazine https://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/content/news/bolt-ceo-defends-firing-entire-hr-team
peoplematters https://www.peoplematters.in/news/business/i-fired-my-companys-hr-department-and-all-problems-disappeared-bolt-ceo-51564
Harvard Business School https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=30580