> They could afford to dip into cash
Why should they risk cash reserves with an uncertain future? So that they can layoff 30% later on if things get worse?
https://www.wsj.com/articles/stripe-cuts-internal-valuation-...
Why? Because periods like now is the absolute best time to steal market share from established companies - which would grow the team and business. Startups (competitors) begin to post less risk because they'll be hard to find financing.
So - if growing the business is a CEO's top responsibility...if the leadership felt they could steal business from others that experience attrition - they would. My guess is they don't seem to feel that way about the current moment.
They're worried about surviving the contraction, nobody knows how long it will last and that cash only goes so far.
This an example of how bullshit jobs are created. Why keep people on a payroll if you have no use for them anymore?
SQ 2021 Revenue: $17B SQ 2021 cash and short term investments: $5.3B
Stripe 2021 Revenue: $12B
Similar businesses, operating in the same market, with the nearly the same number of employees (about 8000). Barring exceptional circumstances, we would expect their financial health to be roughly similar.
You said it yourself:
> the leaders have to... [deal] with investors
The economy is contracting and their share price is falling. They could afford to dip into cash and keep everyone on board but their investors are more concerned about propping up the valuation. They don't have two shits to give about the people they're letting go.