I think it is a combination of the following things that often happen in the name of “efficiency”:
Goodhart’s law;
optimization for values that are not yours;
premature optimization;
removal of slack.
Note that the typical context when people consider “efficiency” explicitly is when it is forced on them by some authority. (If you want to do something more efficiently for yourself, you would probably just call it a “better” or “smarter” way of doing things.)
It is likely that the authority’s goals are not well aligned with yours, and “efficiency” means taking away part of your money or freedom, so that they can have greater profit or easier job. Sometimes the authority defends their solution as improving things for you, but your potential disagreement would be predictably ignored; they have already made their decision, and the important people have approved it, so the debate is over.
In context of employment, “efficiency” usually means that you will have to use cheaper tools or cheaper ingredients, your work will be monitored to make sure you are not taking breaks or otherwise stealing company time, there will be more micromanagement, possibly some of your colleagues will be fired and their tasks will be distributed among the remaining ones, while everyone’s salary remains constant. (Except for the managers who organized the whole thing; those will get huge bonuses.)
In context of services, “efficiency” means that the provider of service will shift some of their costs on you.
I think it is a combination of the following things that often happen in the name of “efficiency”:
Goodhart’s law;
optimization for values that are not yours;
premature optimization;
removal of slack.
Note that the typical context when people consider “efficiency” explicitly is when it is forced on them by some authority. (If you want to do something more efficiently for yourself, you would probably just call it a “better” or “smarter” way of doing things.)
It is likely that the authority’s goals are not well aligned with yours, and “efficiency” means taking away part of your money or freedom, so that they can have greater profit or easier job. Sometimes the authority defends their solution as improving things for you, but your potential disagreement would be predictably ignored; they have already made their decision, and the important people have approved it, so the debate is over.
In context of employment, “efficiency” usually means that you will have to use cheaper tools or cheaper ingredients, your work will be monitored to make sure you are not taking breaks or otherwise stealing company time, there will be more micromanagement, possibly some of your colleagues will be fired and their tasks will be distributed among the remaining ones, while everyone’s salary remains constant. (Except for the managers who organized the whole thing; those will get huge bonuses.)
In context of services, “efficiency” means that the provider of service will shift some of their costs on you.
Of course none of this is popular.