It's the timing. For the sake of the argument here I'll give Salesforce the benefit of the doubt that this is the "Smart" thing to do.

If Salesforce does a reduction in force when the economy is strong it get spun by Wall Street as a sign of weakness and their stock takes a hit.

Do it in a down economy and it's a sign of strength and Wall Street rewards them (stock is up 3% today).

Salesforce did fine through COVID, heck the stock price basically doubled from 2020 to 2021. So they hire like crazy knowing it's unsustainable. Now their stock is at pre-pandemic prices and they start letting all those folks go when they're most vulnerable.