Reading these comments reminds me of how old (and jaded?) I am. We saw the same thing in previous recession-type environments (2000, 2008, etc).
Layoffs suck-they hurt everyone involved (except maybe for the shareholders?) and are a big big deal for each individual that it affects.
That being said, it doesn't take a genius to see that they are very useful from a company perspective. Given how difficult it is to fire underperformers, layoffs allow them to cut a huge swathe of underperformers (and, realistically, people they don't like) without opening themselves up to endless litigation. Yes, the justification can be as simple as "the economy looks like there is an economic downturn and see? the other companies in our industry are doing it too."
Smart companies treat it as a tool and use it sparingly, dumb companies over use it and kneecap themselves for the future.
Layoffs suck-they hurt everyone involved (except maybe for the shareholders?) and are a big big deal for each individual that it affects.
That being said, it doesn't take a genius to see that they are very useful from a company perspective. Given how difficult it is to fire underperformers, layoffs allow them to cut a huge swathe of underperformers (and, realistically, people they don't like) without opening themselves up to endless litigation. Yes, the justification can be as simple as "the economy looks like there is an economic downturn and see? the other companies in our industry are doing it too."
Smart companies treat it as a tool and use it sparingly, dumb companies over use it and kneecap themselves for the future.