Layoffs sometimes signal an abrupt change in strategy rather than imminent collapse. For instance, if the business was on a sharp upward growth trend for years

Layoffs sometimes signal an abrupt change in strategy rather than imminent collapse. For instance, if the business was on a sharp upward growth trend for years and hired aggressively to expand into a new market, but then that market disappeared over night and isn't expected to reappear for a few years, then it may be easy to see that the investment in this new segment might be better redirected into existing verticals. Doing so may require layoffs even if the immediate health and survival of the company is not at stake. With all that said, there's no doubt many of these companies were uncomfortably on the edge of stability and success even in one of the strongest economic periods of modern US history.