What do you think of a company that operates this way?

Sorry to hear of your friend's problems at work. Unfortunately companies have every right to do this sort of thing without asking employee's what they think. As a business that wants to grow presumably they needed someone to lead the team with a stronger business head, rather than a "people person" they want a leader who would bring targets in line with the company's vision and thereby make more money. Who knows what's happening at the top? There might have been potential job losses at the rate they were going. What would people rather have? A job where they get paid and not the best atmosphere or no job at all? I think most people would rather have a secure job. Once the figures pick up somewhat maybe the new team leader will relax a little, they've probably got higher targets to meet or they'll also be demoted. Maybe they've been given 4 weeks or 8 weeks (or whatever amount of time) to prove themselves which is why they're pushing the team so hard. It's not always in the companies best interests to have a popular team leader or manager as they perceive that staff get on so well with that person that they won't push them to meet and exceed targets. If your friend can bear with the situation for a while and concentrate with her colleagues on improving things she might find things ease up and that the new team leader is, in fact, a good leader. I'm sorry I couldn't offer any more advice on this issue which could make your friend feel better... Having worked as a team leader myself and had management suddenly changed targets on me at short notice even when I was 50% short of staff, I know how it feels. At the end of the day I had to put in extra hours and effort myself and motivate my team to make sure we met and exceeded targets and kept the profits up so we could all get our bonuses. At the end of the day, the main benefit I got from doing that was a glowing reference when I eventually decided to leave that job and move to where I am now.