I have heard this from people working at companies where managers spend hours a week trying to help individual people prosper, even outside of work.
People saying this usually cared more about their salary and benefits than the company success and pulling their weight.
Let’s start with basics. A company is a business and without money it cannot pay anyone or provide any benefits. And it will not care about anyone, if it does not have the means to do so.
It’s like if a father in a family would not track the budget and spending and bought anything for the kids or wife regardless if they have money for it or if it is a good investment. In the short term it can make people happier, but in the long term things will go bad really quickly.
Also, firing someone does not mean you do not care about them. Sometimes it does, if they are real assholes. But more often, their low performance hurts many more people and the business, so in the long term even more people. Often this is because they are not a good fit for their current role and will prosper better somewhere else. Even in my short managerial career I have experienced that almost in all cases when I fired someone they were better off pretty soon.
In a family setting, it would be like ignoring one kid not contributing to chores or treating them preferentially. In the long term, it will create bad blood and hurt the family and the spoiled child.
Caring about someone also means being honest and even tough towards them when needed. Not letting them get away with everything just because they think it is how it is supposed to be, or you might hurt their feelings.
If your manager and employer regularly asks you for your opinion, gives you tough feedback when needed and fires toxic people and people not pulling their weight, it pretty much means they care about people. It is just not the kind of fairy tale caring where everybody is happy and there is nothing bad happening. It is the caring in the context of a real world. If they did not do these things, it means they do not care.
Having numbers, metrics, collecting data from surveys should never replace actually talking with people. But without numbers, a company that is growing cannot prosper and support their people.
In a small starting company, you usually sit in a dark room on a bad wooden stool working on a shitty computer. You do overtime when needed without pay, but you know everyone and go for a beer with them often, so it often feels amazing despite the hardships. No numbers or metrics are much needed, as everyone knows everything.
As the company grows, the visibility lowers, and you need to start tracking more stuff just to make sure that you have enough money for salaries at the end of the month, your customers are being served and people do what they are supposed to do.
But you also usually provide more for your people. Better offices, working environment, equipment. Less overtime and it is paid if required. Not forcing people to do overtime, but doing it voluntary. Providing higher salaries and better benefits, as you actually have more revenue and you can manage it more efficiently.
But you do not know all the people, people have families and other interests, beers are not that common, so even if the situation is better, it might feel worse. However, it does not mean that the company (which is by the way made of people, it is not an abstract entity) does not care.
So if you think that “My company cares more about numbers than people” first try to state concrete situations where a number was picked over people in the company and also who did that. It is not “a company”. It is usually a concrete manager.
Was someone fired because of a random metric, or because he really did not pull his weight and hurt his team and the company?
Is someone giving you number based feedback, just because there is some random number, or because it is an important number for the team and the company success and ability to pay salaries?
Are you asked to input work logs or sales data into a system just so the manager can show it to their manager, or because they use the data to help them make decision in context?
Are decisions made based on one number or based on multiple ones and with context and proper interpretation and analysis?
When I provide some feedback to my manager or the company, is it being taken seriously? Do I get a response or an action? Even if it was declined, did I get a proper reason why?
If I am not a good fit for my current role, does the company try to find me a better fit?
Are we not going out for beers anymore because the company does not want us to, or just because I haven’t asked my colleagues to go for one after a long day in a while?
These are just a few questions from the top of my head. If you have not even thought about them, maybe do so before stating that “My company cares more about numbers than people”. At least you can then provide concrete examples to your claim.