I think this and the rest of the FAANG (plus M$) layoffs show us that these are now all established corporates. When you're growing and innovating and building new products etc, you hire during recessions to make the things you will sell during the booms (and just to keep up with your growth). But when you're a stable, mature company with no plans for new products, business lines etc, then the name of the game is efficiency. And efficiency is doing the same as last year but with 12k fewer people.
It's not "wrong" per se. It's just that these companies are no longer what they were. Investors and Employees should know what they are engaging with: out is the growth machine where you will have a team hired under you and revenue can be expected to 10x in a decade. In is "every year we get to 5% more revenue and pay 5% less in expenses".
Such is the company life cycle.
Google have done very well to be fair to keep the growth phase going so long...
It's not "wrong" per se. It's just that these companies are no longer what they were. Investors and Employees should know what they are engaging with: out is the growth machine where you will have a team hired under you and revenue can be expected to 10x in a decade. In is "every year we get to 5% more revenue and pay 5% less in expenses".
Such is the company life cycle.
Google have done very well to be fair to keep the growth phase going so long...