> Did none of the layoffs in 2023 on do the job? No, because the calculus of layoffs shifted. Briefly, there is always a natural attrition rate A%, but wheneve

> Did none of the layoffs in 2023 on do the job? No, because the calculus of layoffs shifted. Briefly, there is always a natural attrition rate A%, but whenever companies do an X% layoff they expect a smaller Y% additional attrition (due to morale etc.) So they expect an overall (A + X + Y)% reduction in headcount within a few months of the layoffs. However, the job market swung so rapidly from pro-employee to pro-employer in that timeframe that the Y% never happened, and in fact there was even a drop in A%. And so companies still ended up with more employees than planned and had to scramble to achieve their headcount goals using other means (RTO mandates, shifting headcount offshore, further layoffs with AI washing, etc.) A bit more detail on the calculus in this comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46142948 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46142948