Automation needs a Chief Executive Officer
A new Chief Executive Officer seat joins the HQ executive pool, and the Basic Manager and every automation rule run only while one is seated.
Hire a CEO to run your automation. The HQ staff tab now has a Chief Executive Officer seat, hired from the executive pool like every other executive and paid from your company's own money.
The Automation page, the Basic Manager, auto-buy, auto-sell, auto-transfer, auto-repair and Auto Hire all run only while a CEO is seated. Rules you already saved are kept exactly as they are and resume on their own the moment one is hired. Safe mode stays available either way.
The CEO is also the most valuable executive seat for HQ efficiency: the other four executive seats were scaled down beneath it, so an HQ without a CEO is short part of its executive share until one is hired.