Welcome folks to reality.
You, the worker, are an expendable asset to whatever company you work for. If you don't understand this, you need perspective.
It's not evil, it's not cruel. It's TRUTH.
You are hired to help provide said company with a service, your skills which helps said company, realize profits. Those profits are not for you, they are for those whom have a vested interest in the company, the investors.
Because let's face reality kids, companies don't get started on charity. Someone, or a group of people come up with an idea, called a business plan. They use this to attract investors who believe that plan will lead to profit. So they invest THEIR money for gain.
As the company grows, and is successful, more investors are drawn in. And thus more people are hired, like you. When there is an economic down turn, or the company runs into hard times through various factors from mis management to just bad luck... the people that placed their money into the company, the investors, get worried.
What the management get's faced with is often the choice between firing/laying off XX% of the company to increase profitability or having investors pull out, which could cause a run on the company and have it go out of business.
So You, the Worker, are an EXPENDABLE ASSET.
That's not evil, it's not "acidic". It's reality.