[peteyPete]

Since everyone was home and spending more time online, online companies got more business, therefore needed to hire more, and since everyone could work remotely, it allowed people to apply for tons other jobs since location no longer mattered, creating a crazy boom and poaching war, where some companies would just hire whoever they could put their hand on.

[bushbaba]

Doubtful. Suspect Google departments get headcount proportional to the department's revenue. Google over-hired, simple as that. Pausing hiring in a booming economy gives warning signs to current employees. Over-hiring allows leadership to layoff without actually causing workforce impact. It's always better to over-hire than under-hire when you are a F500.