> I really don't think it was malice or lying. Most people are just optimists and want to believe that everything will turn out.
I might say that has the sense of a central-bank chairman saying "the market will be fine" in the middle of a downturn: even though he has information that clearly states otherwise, saying anything negative will only make the market worse. Consequentialism, pure and simple.
In a business's case, you want to lay off exactly as many employees as are needed, with the least essential going first. If employees think the ship is sinking, usually you'll lose more employees than you would have otherwise laid off, and usually those will be the most essential (the good strategists, after all, are the most aware of the zeitgeist.)
Once you let any employees go, the barn door is open. Unless the consensus is that those employees (or employee) were dead weight, resumes are already up on Craigslist and job searches are in progress.
I might say that has the sense of a central-bank chairman saying "the market will be fine" in the middle of a downturn: even though he has information that clearly states otherwise, saying anything negative will only make the market worse. Consequentialism, pure and simple.
In a business's case, you want to lay off exactly as many employees as are needed, with the least essential going first. If employees think the ship is sinking, usually you'll lose more employees than you would have otherwise laid off, and usually those will be the most essential (the good strategists, after all, are the most aware of the zeitgeist.)