Layoffs are nothing to be surprised or enraged about. That's how free market works. Companies were there just for the money. All the time.

Maybe they could reduce someones seniority level and wage? But that seems just strange and probably nobody would agree on that.

Just wild speculation but if Facebook is falling it’s probably because the directions they have taken (decided by the board)? I haven't really seen any indication that it would be the programmers fault. It’s not like customers would go back to Facebook if they had zero outages for a year or better quality photos… it’s way beyond that.

Unlike all those other companies who are totally fine with low performers?

More like, the last ten years of coasting by a lot of unscrupulous engineers is coming to an end.

We are hiring low performers. Please don’t hesitate to reach out.

How low are you willing to go? Asking for a friend, of course.

Is this supposed to be surprising?