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Only if the company is able to execute on something useful with those people.
First: finding useful projects to do with the employees is what managers are for.
Second: if you read into HN threads for the past few years, you know that quite a lot of companies are looking for great programmers to hire and claim that their inability to find such people hinders their growth. So, with the coming recession, these companies might get their desired opportunity.
Only if the company is able to execute on something useful with those people. Otherwise it's a waste of money. Great for those employees, maybe.