This story reminds me of my current company. A large fortune 500 company that has recently had most leadership moved to Silicon Valley, in which there were major layoffs to most of the older engineers, based on a consultants suggestion. Most of these engineers maintained and supported older legacy and mainframe systems. Now everyone is scrambling to fill the gaps and it puts a toll on everyone. Not to mention the fear of current talent fleeing as the word is out that you don't spend more than 5 years here or you will be forced out.