In any other industry, a 15% cut would be Bad News, and people would be talking about ripple effects, they would call it a "shock" and talk about the long-term consequences.
In any other industry, a 15% cut would be Bad News, and people would be talking about ripple effects, they would call it a "shock" and talk about the long-term consequences.
While I agree with your statement, it's also true that many industries have faced such cuts, engaged in ample hand-wringing and talk of "shocks" and "long-term consequences", and then gone on to make simple adjustments and be perfectly fine in the long run.
It's worth keeping in mind that the loudest complainers are often the ones with the most to lose; and those with the most to lose are often the ones taking advantage of waste and bloat.
To take a trivial example, look what happens any time there's a ban wave in a popular online game: people come out of the woodwork complaining about how they were unfairly banned, were a false positive, etc... and then you ultimately find out that yes, they were indeed cheating and were caught.
Complaining loudly when caught cheating or threatened with enforcement is basically human nature. The fact that people complain loudly when the gravy train runs off the rails isn't much different, and the complaints should honestly be taken with a grain of salt.