[thworp]

How is this idea suddenly so widespread? Big tech are currently at the edge of the abyss to varying degrees. For most it has now been 4 quarters of revenues growing at a lower rate than expenses (and accelerating). At this rate it's obvious they have only a few quarters left before they go into the red. So why exactly should they keep employees around that they hired during the largest bubble in at least 40 years? Should they keep these people on and only start doing something once they are billions of dollars in debt?

Besides that, this class warfare rhetoric on HN is a cruel joke. You have the global 0.3% complaining that the 0.03% is stealing their $300,000 salaries. Why don't they accept a 75% pay cut so that the marketing assistant and cleaning personnel can get a salary more in line with theirs? If companies have to make HR decisions based on social factors this will be the result.