Amazon and Salesforce are among the companies to recently announce major staff cuts. Layoffs are often one of the first ways employers curb costs, but they can jeopardize a company’s public image and employee goodwill. Today, we’ll look at how firms choose who stays and who goes. We’ll also check in on faltering import and export trade, an uptick in corporate borrowing and the whiplash effect of China’s “zero-COVID” policy.