I think asking for lowered compensation is definitely shitty and he should be condemned for that.

However, can someone explain to me the vitriolic opposition to downsizing/layoffs whenever this topic comes up?

I don't see how anyone has a right be hired and work at X company. It is, after all, their company and their decision. Surely we can all agree that sometimes companies make strategic mistakes in terms of hiring and need to correct them later on. Also, circumstances could simply change, products be canceled or no longer need as much manpower etc.

What am I missing?

Hmmm.... I get a certain vibe from this letter. I swear I have seen it somewhere before

https://imgflip.com/s/meme/Zorg.jpg

"Reduce the 'headcount' but profits must not decrease by one single penny."

Said no one who understands how businesses work, ever. If capitalism actually worked the way these people claimed it worked, we wouldn't have so many idiot billionaires.

I feel like there aren't enough heads turned on investors who could care about employees even less than companies do.

They even have more bargaining power than any employee or protester to make the company do what they want.

What these big giants were trying to do is scoop up as much talent as possible so they don't end up at a competitor, even if that meant some employees would be getting very light workloads. that's one of the many reasons too Google keeps starting new projects and killing them a few years later.

Is there a source on this

Summarize the letter into one or two sentences and read it in Mr Zorgs voice.

Yup, spot on.