It's a favorable signal if you think that they have too many employees for their current requirements - or if you think that they have enough inertia to produce good results in the next quarter due to a drastic cut in expenses, and you plan to exit before the long-term effects catch up to them. It could also mean that you still think that their ship is sinking, but it's just sinking a little slower now.
No one thinks it's an ethically good thing to do, or that the human lives affected by it are irrelevant. The direction of their stock is almost completely divorced from those kinds of questions, and is instead a purely financial judgement.
It's good to be somewhat confused by that state of affairs, otherwise you'll mistake wealth or popularity for goodness or rightness. We need to be careful to structure the our society and the means to change our culture such that we don't systemically bias it towards unfavorable outcomes that might be more successful in a more ruthless environment.
No one thinks it's an ethically good thing to do, or that the human lives affected by it are irrelevant. The direction of their stock is almost completely divorced from those kinds of questions, and is instead a purely financial judgement.
It's good to be somewhat confused by that state of affairs, otherwise you'll mistake wealth or popularity for goodness or rightness. We need to be careful to structure the our society and the means to change our culture such that we don't systemically bias it towards unfavorable outcomes that might be more successful in a more ruthless environment.