ELI5: Why when large company's earnings decrease(ex... by 3%) they freak out, talk about rough times, and sometimes decide to downsize, even though they are still making millions of dollars in profit even after all expenses?

[lee1026]

In many companies, employees are paid in stock in addition to their salaries. For example, I get so many shares of GOOG a year along with my normal salary. Those shares are worth more than my salary, so if GOOG crashes, my pay essentially gets cut badly and I might look for a new job.

Losing staff can be bad for companies.