I think a big reason these companies are laying people off is because we actually did increase their taxes. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (Trump's only major legislation passed) changed the rules on R&D deductions after 2022 to balance the other cuts and allow Senate Republicans to pass the bill without a supermajority (through Reconciliation). This was meant to be a poison pill that everyone expected would get repealed before it went into effect, but efforts to repeal it fell apart.

Required R&D cost amortization

Under I.R.C. §174, a current deduction is allowed for research and experimental expenditures paid or incurred in tax years beginning before 2022. The TCJA amended I.R.C. §174 such that, beginning in 2022, firms that invest in R&D are no longer able to currently deduct their R&D expenses. Rather, they must amortize their costs over five years, starting with the midpoint of the taxable year in which the expense is paid or incurred. For costs attributable to research conducted outside the U.S., such costs must be amortized over 15 years. This will be the first time since 1954 that companies will have to amortize their R&D costs, rather than immediately deduct those expenses.

https://pro.bloombergtax.com/brief/rd-tax-credit-and-deducting-rd-expenditures/

https://youtu.be/1ecu0YsCGxg?si=zh-39-HMHif-zvaU

Thank god we gave a massive corporate tax cut. This way they have more money to pay their employees

I won't! And don't forget to vote with your dollars and buy local whenever possible. Local owners spend money in local towns.

Fucking seriously. My company (in the tech industry) has gone through a few rounds of layoffs recently. We keep hearing about how things are absolutely in the shitter and how we're all struggling to survive tough times.

Then they shared their financials last week and we had a 20% profit margin!! I was expecting a negative profit based on all the layoffs and doom and gloom. Wtf!

While you're not wrong, no company is calling it out like this. If I were to make a catastrophic hiring mistake, I'd probably be fired. The CEO's that looked at the pandemic, saw their profit rising, and decided "it's because we're so awesome, let's hire everyone" should bear the blame.

To take Amazon as an example, if you were to take how much they paid for MGM and on Rings of Power, Amazon could have paid salaries to everyone they let go for a full year. It's a dereliction of duty at leadership level, and the high stock price is the only reason they aren't out on the street.

Overhired and they were way to ambitious with their projections, so for the C Levels to unlock their full bonus they need to harvest skulls to meet their targets.

What do you mean over hiring during Covid cause I remember them laying people off at least in my country