Then he wasn't doing a good enough job in his new role; if he was, they would have laid someone else off. He should have recognized that he was in a precarious position, no longer being able to perform the job he was hired for, and working his sack off to prove his worth in the new role. If your dept was 8 and now it's 5, you had 3 too many people before (or 3 too many people for the current workload). No need to over-complicate it.
I mean I get the sentiment of the article, but it's a little sensational to say the least. Really what it comes down to is companies across all sectors have been given a catalyst to optimize and right-size their workforce.