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I guess that companies which get bought might be a bit "overstaffed" from the startup phase or because planned further development. If one removes this staff, you need less people to minimally maintain a running app. But itcs just a guess, you'll loose knowhow too, when drastically reducing your staff.

They hire at higher pay because they want people that can/are willing to do the job of multiple people

And often at places cheaper than US talent, so that above average pay in the EU comes out to below average pay overall.

Being a part of that skeleton crew likely involves different skills to building the product in the first place.