There is pressure from owners (shareholders/investors) to increase profits.. and that can be a problem for the company if they are not performing as well as oth

There is pressure from owners (shareholders/investors) to increase profits.. and that can be a problem for the company if they are not performing as well as other similar investment options, since investors will take their money elsewhere, making it harder to raise money in the future. But that's a pressure the company is under constantly. The executive team turns that into an action plan. The action plan always reflects the need to constantly make progress. In other words, it's never the case that greed is suddenly a reason for layoffs -- since that existed every day the company was operating. Companies aren't laying off divisions that perform well and contribute profits to the company. They layoff to solve an issue that has been identified. That issue needs to be communicated. The fact is, no company is a perfectly performing entity. There are always parts that perform inefficiently; no longer reflect the mission of the company; etc. And sometimes layoffs are required to improve the company.