HC struggle going in 2027
VP of IT Ops here. We are currently planning for roadmaps, budgets and headcount for 2027. Last year we had a big increase in our employee count (~15% from ~3500 --> ~4000). We're also expecting to grow another 8% this year. Nevertheless, we have not been getting any additional hc this year. For next year's planning we're also not getting any headcount. Naturally, with increased # of employees, the amount of tasks has increased for my teams. We're focussing on automating our repetitive tasks and get rid of all the toil, but I feel like we're drowning. The CTO of the company understands our pains, but 'has to make tough decisions, because we have to keep innovating for our customers'. We're having issues to keep up with all the requests and supporting our employees. He is suggesting focussing more on automation and building agents. But as we're barely can keep the light on, we don't have time to focus on building this. As leaders we have to stand with the choices made and also bring the message across to the teams. Simultaneously, I have trouble with the fact that we're planning to grow even further and not getting additional headcount for my team. Anyone else having these issues and if so, what do you do?