A relative is a middle manager in one of the biggest tech organizations in EU; only 60% of their huge organization is doing actual work and that 60% includes the management of the actual experts; the rest are "support functions" with very well paid positions for people appointed by the member states with strong political connections and no relevant skills vs. hired with interviews for the 60%. But even in the 60% there are a lot that are not meeting the skills required, but they are protected from any action by labor laws and unions, including forced salary raised based on how long they worked there, with no performance indicators.
In practical terms, over 50% of that large (many thousands) organization should not exist. Another 50% of what is left is only needed because EU bureaucracy requires them to cover work that can be avoided. That qualifies for "too much bureaucracy".
> This book contains three basic ideas. The first is an output-oriented approach to management. That is to say, we apply some of the principles and the discipline of the most output-oriented of endeavors—manufacturing—to other forms of business enterprise, including most emphatically the work of managers. Consider Intel, which is a true manufacturing and production company, making highly complex silicon chips as well as computer-like products built from them. Our company now has over thirty thousand employees. Of these, about 25 percent actually work to make the products. Another 25 percent help them as they supervise the personnel, maintain the machines, and engineer and improve the manufacturing process. Another 25 percent work in administration, where they schedule production, keep personnel records, send bills to our customers, and pay our suppliers. Finally, the remaining 25 percent design new products, take them to the marketplace, sell them, and service them after the sale.
Andy Grove, High Output Management, about Intel (at the time when they were successful)
I think there are many, many (not directly) productive functions that successful business needs to have and engineers often underestimate those (I certainly know I often do).
What is described above is a close to 100% productive personnel, direct or indirect. Imagine on top of that you have 10% that "work" on wellness programs (on paper, no tangible output ever, maybe a link to a Youtube yoga channel), 25% doing marketing for an institution that is unique with no competitors and no need for publicity (imagine publishing adds for Europol, the European police force; what are they selling?), another 10% doing diversity programs (when skilled engineers are already scarce, you force quotas on various categories) and another 10% are hired just on paper and never appear to work.
In practical terms, over 50% of that large (many thousands) organization should not exist. Another 50% of what is left is only needed because EU bureaucracy requires them to cover work that can be avoided. That qualifies for "too much bureaucracy".