I think these companies found it harder to hire, and thus worked harder to look good to perspective employees. Now with the hiring market being reset in a way that favors employers, a lot of that is going away.
I think that’s right, extending hiring to include retention. Tech workers had an almost two decade run of extremely high negotiating power and many used that to have more influence on company policies than most workers are allowed. There’s a theory that what we’re seeing now is more resentment about upsetting the power dynamic than any actual cost these guys suffered, and that’s compatible with e.g. those leaked group chats.
