I think you misunderstood what I meant, people are less capable technically, but more capable from a "relationship building" standpoint will often spend as much

I think you misunderstood what I meant, people are less capable technically, but more capable from a "relationship building" standpoint will often spend as much time becoming friends with management so they are not laid off. This probably doesn't happen in smaller startups, but I've worked in several medium and large size companies and have seen it happen. It doesn't matter if you're getting along with your coworkers, they aren't the ones making the layoff decisions.