I predict the next year will see tech companies hiring recklessly again. Netflix, Microsoft, Facebook, and Google all reported huge earnings increases after doing rounds of layoffs and cost cutting. They could stay the course and keep running lean and profitable, but that’s not how people in large companies work. Budgets will increase and the desire to grow empires again will take over. Middle management isn’t incentivized to run lean, they need to increase the number of people reporting to them to prove they can manage larger orgs and move up. Maybe the incentive structure at these companies have changed, but I doubt it. Change is hard, and the next big thing to chase is always around the corner.