Why Big Companies Are Eager to Lay Off Workers

Check out Facebook — the results are pretty striking. On one hand, costs have dropped noticeably; on the other, the platform itself seems unaffected and continues operating normally. Meanwhile, its stock price has gone up. No matter how you calculate it, the layoff makes sense. Laying off people becomes addictive. In the past, companies could hire an excess of staff to prevent competitors from gaining ground, but now that talent is more abundant, it's no longer feasible to block rivals through over-hiring — keeping redundant headcount just doesn't make financial sense. So it's better to shrink the team, keep costs low, and boost profits. Elon Musk led the way by firing everyone and nothing fell apart, giving others the courage to do the same.

Also, I've summarized a pattern about talent: an individual's capability correlates strongly with their undergraduate university. If they graduated from a prestigious school, their overall skill set tends to be well-rounded with few obvious weaknesses. But if they're exceptionally strong while attending a less renowned university, they likely possess a specialized skill — though their overall profile may have hidden shortcomings that will eventually reveal themselves over time.

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