Maybe that’s why. I don’t dispute the outcome, just I wonder about the underlying motivation.

Headcount, regardless of utilization, carries a cost. Payroll HR benefit administration badges laptops uniforms etc etc.

As well simply “cutting hours” causes people to quit to find more stable full time employment. If you actually want to keep an employee, it’s a massive risk to do that.

Both cases, those are working against the employer even before you try and justify it as part of some grander scheme.

I’m completely open to the idea, but it strikes me as an Occam’s Razor moment. Why introduce the concept of secret colluding between competing businesses when it can be sufficiently be explained by individual greed?