Medtronic - Headcount freezes and whispers...

Just been hearing a lot of chatter around my department and others. Not seeing outright layoffs announced, but the vibe is definitely off. It feels like hiring has really slowed to a crawl, almost like a quiet freeze. Combined with the budget tightening everyone's complaining about, it makes you wonder what's going on. Are they trying to avoid mass layoffs by just... stopping growth? Anyone else getting this impression? My manager is being super cagey when asked about future team expansion or even backfilling roles that have opened up. It's creating a weird kind of anxiety because you don't know if you should be worried about your own position or just the general company direction. Feels like we're holding our breath waiting for something, and it's not looking like good news.