Basically there is a difference between
1. 10 people growing bananas when the economy would be better off with 7 people growing bananas and 3 people growing apples. 2. 9 people growing bananas and 1 person sitting on his butt doing nothing because he can't find a banana growing job. Even though the economy would be better off with 10 banana growers then none.
The problem with recessions is that per person productivity usually goes up but less people are employed. This phenomenon is hard to explain without referencing aggregate demand.
Yep, that simple. That's called investment multiplier, and economists were discussing at the late 00's how it could vary from one company to the other given the Keynes' identities.