"I take responsibility" is a coded way of saying "the discussion is over". This is a very old management trick to avoid further arguments and discussion. You w

"I take responsibility" is a coded way of saying "the discussion is over". This is a very old management trick to avoid further arguments and discussion. You wanna avoid telling someone they're incompetent? Just say "it was my mistake to have hired you, we weren't ready to have someone in your position". You wanna rescind a job offer because you got cold feet? Just say "our HR made a mistake, and this offer shouldn't have been made". It also means you're not willing to work together to solve the problem. The reason for those mass-layoffs are not "mistakes" by founders, and they're happening at the same time for a specific reason: to put employees collectively at a disadvantage in terms of salary and negotiations. They successfully shifted the discussion from this to "Why are they taking responsibility without any consequence?".