@cstross I think management really underestimates the secondary effects regarding competent workers.
Layoffs are a shake-up. On my team, we had a re-org that resulted in some half the staff getting cut (technically "not rehired"). And then my team, personally, lost one of our most creative and pioneering engineers simply because he no longer felt like the company was interested in letting people build a legacy there, and he'd rather work somewhere he could do that.
Layoffs signal to employees that the company is short-term focused.
cstross
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