If the information in https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/the-scoop-48 is correct, it wasn't an across the board layoff.
> About 30% of product development was let go and these techies were the largest affected group. Of the 58 people, about 40-50 of those let go were in the formerly 150-strong product development organization, I have confirmed with current software engineers at Stack Overflow... I have to wonder if StackOverflow has given up on innovation, and is looking to maximize profits while it still can.
I only saw this detail after I wrote the post. Here's a primary source: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dalecook_opentowork-activity-...
> But across-the-board layoffs force managers to cut people who probably ought to be retained.
There are plenty of companies that aren't in trouble doing layoffs to shed dead-weight with the excuse that everyone is doing layoffs. Similarly, profitable companies are skipping raises this year bc everyone else is skipping raises.