They were “tightening their belt” a profitable company doesn’t have to worry about that.
My CTO said specifically “we need everyone we have and we aren’t going to be successful by laying off people. We have a vision and we need you all to help execute it”. They were bought out less than 9 months later for 10x revenue. I had moved on to $BigTech by then after leading their “cloud modernization” efforts.
The profitable tech companies are using it as an excuse to get rid of dead weight. No one is going to come after Cook, Jassy or Nadella for short term revenue misses.
Facebook and Google still have founders who own more than 50% of the voting shares. No one can come after them.
You can say a lot about the big 5. But none of them can be accused of short sightedness.