They'll say whatever they need to to make the number go up, as if they didn't calculate all of this beforehand and then let people go when they saw the economy go down. Ignore the narrative.

Companies just want an excuse to save money without making wall street panic, as well as the usual cost cutting measures they've done for decades. They feel they captured the market so they aren't spending money keeping people away from competitors (and ofc startup funding is much worse too. No one to rise up). These layoffs are not a reflection of anyone's abilities as engineers.