Half the team left, and then they laid three off the following week? Makes me think that the half who left got wind of the layoffs and decided to make their own plans first, but the layoffs were already in motion and couldn't be stopped in time. Whoever manages that team presumably begged his boss' boss to stop the layoffs, but probably they were ordered to "make x layoffs in your unit" and were being measured on a metric that didn't take voluntary exits into account.
Shitty management!
Biting the hand that feeds IT
