Maybe not rehire, but many companies will actively continue hiring just as many as they lay off. Citibank did this for years. Announce layoffs of 5,000 employees, stock goes up, but also hire 5,000 with no announcement.
Does it eventually kill the company to do this? In many cases, yes.
I know people who support this philosophy (business owners and investors, of course), framing it as getting rid of the lowest performers. They think 10% yearly turnover is healthy. Morale is so low at the businesses they run they usually don’t have to lay off. It’s probably more like they lose their top 10% yearly.
Maybe not rehire, but many companies will actively continue hiring just as many as they lay off. Citibank did this for years. Announce layoffs of 5,000 employees, stock goes up, but also hire 5,000 with no announcement.
Does it eventually kill the company to do this? In many cases, yes.
I know people who support this philosophy (business owners and investors, of course), framing it as getting rid of the lowest performers. They think 10% yearly turnover is healthy. Morale is so low at the businesses they run they usually don’t have to lay off. It’s probably more like they lose their top 10% yearly.