Liberal in this context refers to economic liberalism. Ostensibly for free market competition, (but in practice just a political deference to capitalists in opposition to labor or other social goods) it is the ideological backbone of capitalism.

In the US, while “liberal” is colloquially used to describe the Democratic Party for its relative social progressivism, both major political parties follow economic liberalism to justify their policies which favor the rich.

A liberal will side with capital over labor. Therefore, in this context, a liberal will use language that frames the shift in surplus value from corporate profits to labor as a total loss to the economy rather than just to the company.