[Cthulhu_]

Or that their true intentions / feelings would be exposed. I mean, "management wanted to curtail redundancies in the human resources area, and so, many workers are no longer viable members of the workforce" sounds much nicer than "yeah we fired a bunch of people".

[homonculus1]

Exactly, it's verbal defense-in-depth. When language has multiple layers of vagueness, you have to actively approach the real meaning through interpretation. Only the staunchly disagreeable are inclined to have a negative reaction through multiple iterations of reading between the lines, and if they speak up they get singled out as not-team-players or even cranks and kooks. The rest filter it through an attitude of generosity, desire for positivity, and benefit of doubt, so when they get the message its emotional weight is dampened, and they are in a suitable frame of mind to accept it with resignation.

In short it's pure manipulation of your own tendencies for social cooperation. Perhaps a bit colorful to say on HN but--it's fucking disgusting. And multiple fields of high-paying professions consist entirely of doing this effectively, up to the scale of entire nations.