Our company does believe in good old fashioned work--and lots of it. They are bold enough to tell us flat out that they want more revenue out of fewer employees. Our office manager is trying to motivate us to get back into the top 5 billing offices corporate wide--so he can hang a trophy in his office and get a bonus (we don't get a bonus). Every quarter they take away another privilege. Last summer it was our attendance reward system. It's pretty cheap--you got points for every week you were at work all 5 days, and you could trade in the points for coffee mugs, t-shirts, pens, whatever with the company logo. Not anymore. Then at the first of the year, they replaced our 2 weeks of sick time with 3 days at only 60% compensation. And they also changed the way we earn our vacation--instead of getting 2 weeks to use throughout the year, you get 3.08 hours for every pay period. That way if an employee leaves, they don't have to pay her back for unused vacation time, and if she has used more than she has earned they will subtract the difference out of her final paycheck.
The newest plot is to shuffle our desks around the office. For some reason it was decided that if we sit in different "groups", we will get more done. I don't really get it. The supposed benefits are nebulous, and it will completely break down how our mail and inter-office paperwork is distributed.
Anyway, sorry to hear your story, and I feel your pain too. (BTW I am 25 with twice the education of most of the people I work with, just in between career moves haha) I think the best type of company to work for is a smaller company--more opportunity for advancement through merit/hard work, and also easier for your voice to be heard. And it's nice when decisions are made right there in front of you instead of in a corporate office across the continent.