> Does that count for tech?

Financial debt kills because free cash flow gets squeezed. For most tech companies, operating expenses constrain free cash flow.

Quick ratio [1] and free cash flow (or alternatively, operating cash flow) as a fraction of cash on hand (or less conservatively, current assets) would be my go-to acid tests.

[1] https://www.investopedia.com/terms/q/quickratio.asp

Yeah, think like equity analysts during upturns, and in a downturn think like credit, ie. map out the sources and uses of funds.

The big caveat here is rising rates on floating rate debt, and the marginal response of revenue to higher rates.

Can you explain that like you'd explain it to your elderly mother

A little bit more detailed than that?

I used to work for the oil industry felt (and probably objectively is) far less stable.

There are other things to look at such as how resilient their business model is, their price/ earning ratio, etc. But in general, I would say those tech companies that have huge price swings during the pandemic are most likely to going have some sort of layoff. They are the ones that most likely over-hired.