> I feel deranged pointing this out, but hiring triple the headcount you need to run your business is not a progressive social value. I don't know what it is.

From an investor's point of view this would not be ideal. Having said that, from a broader societal point of view, it's less clear.

Put it this way: as an investor, I am going to view a business that has 1 employee (on $100k) and $1m in profit much more favourably than a business that has 10 employees (on $100k) and $0.1m in profit. From the broader societal point of view though, the second arrangement could be better.