What is happening?

I recently graduated from a top ranked R1 institution in the US, and was one of the first in my class to graduate. Most professors in my department were against graduate students taking a leave for internships / jobs. But in the last month, that appears to have changed dramatically.

I shit you not, 5 people from my department, who are only midway through their PhDs have reached out in the last week asking for a job. One of them was even from my lab, where I know the professor would ordinarily never allow that. I'm thinking things must be bad, either with accessing current funds, or that the most recent grant cycle did not turn out well.

I've also seen a number of post docs quit recently. I know post doc attrition is high, but believe me, this feels abnormal. These same people were telling me about their faculty ambitions a few months ago....

What are the vibes at other universities? I am a bit detached from my old university, but I can tell something is up.