I read somewhere that the armor distributes blaster bolt shock through it so all the Stormtroopers get knocked unconscious. They don’t die, otherwise they may as well not wear it at all as they fall over after one blaster bolt.

But as with everything in Star Wars lore, that’s probably a desperate retcon.

The morale nosedive that layoffs bring means the loss of company productivity is so much higher than just who you let go. They have to be the absolute last resort. Pete Parsons has to go.