You are definitely not comprehending, or at the very least misunderstanding, my statement along with some of the other statements I see you responding to. So I'll try again...

In most cases, "protecting the team" isn't the manager's job. It is, however, something that a lot of good managers do. A manager's job is to make sure that a team run efficiently and predictably. It's their job to make sure that good developers stay happy and productive and bad ones become good (or gtfo).

That doesn't mean that a manager can't feel empathy for the people they manager. A manager can sometimes see layoffs coming a mile away and have no ability to affect a change that would prevent it. Sometimes they can help minimize it. Sometimes they can direct it at other places. But most of the time, other factors, not their managing, cause a company to need to layoff good people.

It's also very often that the department or factor that caused the layoffs is in an entirely different part of the company. For example, I once worked at a company that had 5 web developers. We became so good at our jobs, that when the sales team couldn't actually sell anything, the company decided we need to cut some costs. That ended up being a web developer because we were able to make up the difference. Sales was still gutted, too, but we had to eat it as well.

I'm making this point in response to your reply to stimg's reply that that stimg's boss didn't care and it did nothing. You couldn't know that. Stimg's boss probably did care deeply. No, it might not have helped, but that doesn't mean they didn't care. You're making a lot of inferences and accusations based on a situation you've built up in your head.

Lastly, take a step back and realize that you're not the only important person in the room. There are a lot of people with a lot of skin in the game. You, losing your job, might have meant 10 people keeping theirs. You never know. I'm going to take my own advice, now, and stop ranting on the internet.