Asking who funded it is kind of meaningless when you’re talking thousands of studies, it’s one of those topics that’s quite interesting for everyone from economists to management consultants.

COVID was a mix of turnover, furlough, and layoffs, but the layoffs were generally of the exact type I was referring to. Shutting down a restaurant’s dining service doesn’t get the same kind of pushback as a 15% cut across a division. The company isn’t trying to do the same stuff with fewer employees, it’s no longer serving those customers.