A layoff fundamentally changed how I perceive work

Really enjoyed reading this, but I will say that the particular circumstances here are a bit rare. Germany got completely gutted in this layoff. Almost everyone employed in Germany was cut. I know a Senior Staff Engineer from Germany who was laid off then re-hired.

It’s not rare for entire business units or country offices to get shut down. That’s the easiest way to do a layoff because it’s mostly isolated from the rest of the company. Executives can meet most of their layoff target without having to get into the weeds of evaluating individual performance.

Often some functions are moved or merged into another unit, and that’s the escape hatch for the few people someone really wants to save.

It wasn't like that in this case. Rumours were it was because people in Germany were thinking of unionizing.