In circumstances where you decide to leave and are rehired they start you back at the low end of the band for the level you're at, however in layoff situations I've heard you're generally rehired at the salary you made before layoffs as long as you had decent ratings.

If they're taking an immediate cut after layoffs it's likely because their RSUs have reset, which also means they get an initial grant that's higher than the continuous equity refreshers. In every scenario I've seen you average more TC while your initial grant is active, so while this might be an immediate cut, they'll average more compensation over the vesting period of the initial grant.

I know some people in FAANG and spend a lot of time on Blind.