Honey, I overhired during the pandemic and I need a scapegoat for the layoffs!
When I worked in finance the thing that made the analysts happiest was a split election wherein neither side could accomplish much. We now have the opposite of that, and worse a capricious leader who makes huge changes without much justification or explanation. Pressing "shuffle" on the economic policy doesn't help anyone.
To finance the best government is the least effective government.
I believe I'm accurate in saying that most employers who overhired during COVID corrected long ago. Especially in tech. The layoffs have been ongoing since 2022. Wih more than 127k just in tech last year.[0] For most people COVID ended half a decade ago. Though technically the WHO called it in May of 2023, three years ago.
I know it's not true yet of Amazon, Meta, and Google. They may say otherwise. TLAs say lots of things and hope you forget they ever said them when they are proven wrong, but all my idiot canaries for my claim remain in place in all three companies. Layoffs are a blunt force weapon and little warms the cockles of my heart more than knowing they are still draining that shareholder value(tm).
No executive will ever want to say they made poor decisions that resulted in overhiring.
Instead, someone else's fault.
The same way for awhile the failings of certain businesses "those damn millennials refusing to spend money here" instead of "we priced ourselves out of the market".