[SoftwareMaven]

That sounds like what would happen at Strawman, Inc. I've worked at a bunch of companies, big and small, and have never seen hiring justified like that.

Now, getting people and teams transferred once they are hired? That's a whole different story.

[codeonfire]

What do you propose caused Zynga management to vastly overhire and conduct layoffs?

[jrockway]

They expected faster growth than what actually happened. It's possible that the CEO approved each individual hire and they still could have overhired.