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What does it mean when a company gets rid of its Chief Talent Officer?

1. The person wasn’t talented enough to bring in the talent!
2. The company can’t get the talent anymore so the job role isn’t required!
3. Or, there is so much talent at the company that it’s bursting at the seams, so job done and move on! 

I am sure readers could think up some other points in regard to what this means for AMD, but even my best three points don’t seem to hit the nail on the head as AMD actually promoted Allen Sockwell to the Chief Talent Officer role, replacing Michel Cadieux, who now wanders off somewhere else.

Few would doubt also that Mario Rivas had some talent, but he has been dumped (‘left AMD to pursue new opportunities’) in favor of some newer blood (Rivas has only been working at AMD for two years), and a re-organization has been announced with the creation of a ‘Centralized Engineering’ structure.

There has been an alarming exodus of senior-level management at AMD for almost a year now as the company struggles to compete after self-inflicted delays in product introductions. Taking this into consideration as well as a recent 10 percent cut in its overall workforce doesn’t paint the best of pictures!

Hector and Dirk have obviously got the biggest hatchet out of the closet of late as the world and its dog want to hear about Hector’s ‘complex’ but incredibly ‘asset-smart’ plan that remains tantalizingly under NDA.

Should that business plan not prove to be very ‘complex’ or ‘smart,’ then perhaps the new Chief Talent Officer will be looking for some new higher-placed talent.