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I had a friend who worked at a company asking for people to be voluntarily laid off. They paid for grad school, and this got said person out of owing them years of service in repayment. Saved someone else from being laid off, and said person was able to find a job they liked much better.

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I think that is reasonable.

"Folks our company didn't do well this year, we can only sustain X at out burn rate. We are willing to extend Y offer until Z date for those of who are willing to volunteer for a lay off"

Much better than firing by force.

Would this not select for firing your best workers (who aren't worried about finding another job)?

It provides incentive for those disposed to leaving anyway.

It does. But if you do the opposite, the layoff is likely to still inspire those best people to start looking on their own if they did not already do so before. And they are the ones most likely to find something and follow through.

Layoffs often have an echo effect, where a wave of layoffs is followed by a wave of resignations. Open offers fold that second, unpredictable wave into the controlled first one. If the nature of your business requires a certain amount of workforce continuity, the added predictability of an open offer can be well worth it.

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