Suppose you do have the ability to precisely predict supply and demand. What would you do if demand is predicted to increase for 5 years and then, decline for the following 5 years? Would you hire people to meet the increased demand? Would you keep them on payroll indefinitely after the 5th year?
I was offered a position at the start of of year at a start up. They ended up withdrawing but not because they didn't want me, I have now received a new offer from them (identical to the previous one), but they received some of their funding from a FAANG which demanded that they also apply a 10% headcount cut otherwise they would pull funding.
There is always some amount of churn, and you can manage headcount cuts without laying anyone off.
> I will never not see layoffs as a symptom of management that is profoundly sick in some manner.
Supply and demand can change quickly and unexpectedly. Making sweeping statements such as all layoffs could have been avoided seems naive.
Many "leaders" have stated that their business is growing, they have good cash reserves, but they felt they had to cut now. This isn't a downturn or a crisis, and it's not demand changing.
If we were in the 2nd or 3rd quarter of a recession, and everyone was bleeding, I think your statement makes sense. But if they have to lay off 10%+ of their workforce because they can't raise another multi-million dollar round, what does that say about their long-term business plan?
1. Use precise predictions of supply and demand to make huge amounts of money in stocks, commodities, etc..
2. Easily pay for whatever employees you want.
You aren't making a point, you're arguing to argue.