>So why do layoffs at all if they don’t actually work? “People do all kinds of stupid things all the time,” Pfeffer says. “I don’t know why you’d expect managers to be any different.”

That's a pretty ridiculous non-answer. The people who initiated these layoffs are some of the most aggressive and sharp (not commenting on moral or intellectual side) in the world. They are different because they are on top of the world food chain and mostly got there through their own efforts (Satya, Zuck, Jassy, etc). They are absolutely not stupid and must have very specific reasons for doing this, which unfortunately the professor here failed to shine any meaningful light on.