I think the answer is in OP: > Imagine if you bet against it being permanent, and you were wrong? Your company just lost out on a massive opportunity- a CEO th

I think the answer is in OP: > Imagine if you bet against it being permanent, and you were wrong? Your company just lost out on a massive opportunity- a CEO that does that would be worried for their job. And if you bet for it being all permanent and are wrong, well, you just have to lay off a few people. CEOs answer to shareholders, not employees. From the shareholders' perspective, the risk of losing out on market share was much greater than the risk of having to pay a few months' severance for the 5-10% of the workforce you trimmed.