[ptnpzwqd]

This makes the assumption that the increase in headcount was to cover the surge in demand, and the additional assumption that the additional headcount was needed to satisfy the demand (obviously, some of it might).

For technology in particular (which seems to be one of the affected functions), this is hardly the way it works - tech projects are unlikely to be a good way to handle temporary spikes in demand, etc. Even for more specialized non-tech functions the lead time for getting someone productive can be too long to make this a feasible strategy.

Maybe also particularly for tech, but I suspect it is much more likely that the "good times" gave the company a large appetite for longer term strategic initiatives/investments, and now that tides have turned that appetite has gone too.

There is no way that it has come as a surprise that the market would change eventually, and creating and killing long term initiatives as the market goes up and down is bad planning, bad for the people affected and bad for the company as well.