Because it's massively beneficial from a PR perspective to lay people off the same day you're doing something "positive."
Specifically here, it has certainly diverted a lot of attention that would otherwise be on a negative like laying people off into something that looks far more positive for the company.
Last time Zynga laid off a large % of their workforce, wasn't it during a huge conference or the same day Apple had made an announcement about new products or something? That's another great way to minimize attention toward something like this.
I don't see how this comes out as a positive for Zynga. They're basically saying, hey, we weren't able to leverage our existing staff's talent, maybe if we bring in new talent our pattern of failure to efficiently manage our intellectual capital will somehow fix itself.
If I worked at NaturalMotion I'd be polishing my resume right now.
Basically all of their previous staff was hired by chimps, so they had to fire them. Fire staff that is, not the chimps. The chimps ordered a new batch. Perfect moon logic.
Specifically here, it has certainly diverted a lot of attention that would otherwise be on a negative like laying people off into something that looks far more positive for the company.
Last time Zynga laid off a large % of their workforce, wasn't it during a huge conference or the same day Apple had made an announcement about new products or something? That's another great way to minimize attention toward something like this.