Often established businesses that find themselves in a precarious financial situation will announce a hiring freeze several months before resorting to layoffs.

It's a much easier decision than laying people off, and much easier to reverse, so it can be taken a lot earlier. And you'll get a modest but relatively painless reduction in headcount due to attrition, if the rest of the job market is buoyant. It also means, if layoffs are needed a few months down the line, there isn't anyone being laid off on the day they join the company.

Of course, there are some situations where this doesn't work so well - for example, if employees will interpret the hiring freeze as a sign layoffs are inevitable they might suffer months of sleepless nights worrying if their neck will be on the chopping block.

Don’t make employment offers and then rescind them? Seems pretty obvious