Oh please. No one got hired during Covid out of the sheer goodness of anyone's heart.
CEOs are sheep. They all do the same thing and run in the same direction.
Your competitors are hiring, you're hiring. You can't be left behind.
Your competitors are firing, you're firing. You won't be the odd man out who has to explain to the board and shareholders why you're not cleaning house when others do.
I'm not saying they hired because they were nice, and became not nice. They over-hired and now they are going to over-fire, and they pay themselves well the whole way thru.
I am saying they are rabidly resentful of the hiring they did. You can see it in leaked comments like JPM's Dimon at a local town hall where he said something to the effect of "we hired 50k people during COVID because people aren't doing their jobs and what's why none of you can WFH anymore" lol.
The way CEOs talk about now vs then is like some Old Testament fire & brimstone stuff. Like its everyones fault that he over-hired and now they should all get back to the office or face eternal damnation.
CEOs are sheep. They all do the same thing and run in the same direction. Your competitors are hiring, you're hiring. You can't be left behind. Your competitors are firing, you're firing. You won't be the odd man out who has to explain to the board and shareholders why you're not cleaning house when others do.
Rinse and repeat