"Employers should not feel ashamed to lay off people."
On the contrary, they absolutely should. It means they failed. Management should be punished for letting it get to that point, not rewarded for doing it as they often are.
Failed at what? The feedback loop between investment and return is extremely long in companies, and it is almost always impossible to tell if you're overshooting (until its too late.) And slowing down does not work at startups, especially in hugely competitive markets.
This is total BS that employers might say to employees but either people will be foolish to believe so.
In India I worked for a large company that indeed operated like family. The company avoided layoffs by cutting salary of high performing employees to retain non-performers. Promotions were based only on number of years of service and not ability etc. But that is why I left for USA.
Employers should not feel ashamed to lay off people. It is not the case that people cant find other jobs. In fact being honest and transparent about it can help people find other better jobs. Similarly employees must leave the company at the first sight of the distress and go for greener pastures.