At the very least it means the company isn't able to grow. It also means it's a poorly managed business. A lot of the businesses laying people off aren't even

At the very least it means the company isn't able to grow. It also means it's a poorly managed business. A lot of the businesses laying people off aren't even in financial trouble. Some of them have piles of cash in the bank and are profitable. They just lost what it takes to enter new markets and grow their business. The sad thing is that the stock market will often reward this strategy because in the short term the cost goes down and the revenue decline lags. The good thing is that it's a healthy process that leads to new businesses being created that are better than the old ones.