I'd love to be a 'fly on the wall' when they try to bring back engineers who've been let go - but they now realize are critical for operations.

I'd also be curious as to the attrition rate of the ones brought back. Having been arbitrarily dumped once means they'll probably listen when a headhunter calls. Now that they and their employer know that they're critical, they have enough leverage to refuse to sign anything with a penalty clause...