I have heard of a company in the Bay that did this! Reliable Robotics had people start on a Monday only to lay them off later that week.

That's why I think the hiring freeze that took place at FAANG is the right approach. Companies should not play with people, and it reflects poorly on the decision makers.

Seems like they wanted to participate in the copycat layoffs but didn't have enough staff they could let go (sorry for the joke in bad taste).

But seriously now: this only goes to show how those layoffs are about companies fucking up, rather than about people. Laying off people who just got hired is amateur hour.

we had a layoff in my company announced today (UK based), it will be weeks before I know if I'm impacted

If I decided to jump ship now and join a financial company in which I can guarantee quick offer due to networking I feel I'm risking exactly that.

It feels like a wave, if you jump to another industry you may risk to catch the wave when it comes. Specifically financial seems to just start now?