When covid started and companies all over the world were laying people off (or furloughing them), I asked my manager if there were going to be layoffs at our company. He said, "I'm not allowed to say one way or the other."

I assumed that the reason he wasn't allowed was because we were a public company and if something he said made it into the media, there would be legal implications, especially if the stock price was affected.

My current company is saying, "Nope. No layoffs. We have plenty of money. We won't have to even think about layoffs for quite a while. Go back to work." Not a public company. Big difference.