This is my unpopular take on the layoffs at extremely profitable companies
Hiring rates skyrocketed during covid, but so did attrition rates (well, the same people joining Google left some other company)
After big tech started freezing hiring in summer 2022, attrition rates most likely tanked, people wanted to stay put. 6-8 months later, companies ended up with way more employees than they planned, even though they were the ones hiring, cue layoffs. People will crap on Google or Salesforce "why did you hire so much?" - but during the great resignation - what were they supposed to do?
This isn’t very unpopular. Most tech companies demonstrably hired at the same rate but as the base number grew, each new quarter brought in more people. And yes, attrition crashed when they announced hiring freezes. At companies like Google, the layoff count was similar to expected attrition.
Hiring rates skyrocketed during covid, but so did attrition rates (well, the same people joining Google left some other company)
After big tech started freezing hiring in summer 2022, attrition rates most likely tanked, people wanted to stay put. 6-8 months later, companies ended up with way more employees than they planned, even though they were the ones hiring, cue layoffs. People will crap on Google or Salesforce "why did you hire so much?" - but during the great resignation - what were they supposed to do?