[in_cahoots]

That’s true, but those same companies still wound up doing layoffs later on. So if your criteria is not to work at a company without layoffs then you’re still SOL.

[roncesvalles]

I'd rather join a company post-layoff than pre-layoff.

[luckylion]

Say you're at company A. Company A and B do layoffs of similar size. Why is switching to company B after the layoffs your preferred action?

[janalsncm]

Of course. But in a recession there can be multiple rounds of layoffs.