> A non-productive worker is probably worse than no worker at all.

There's no "probably" to it. Offering a fired employee the right to stay around until their time is up is a mindbogglingly stupid idea. It's a recipe for massive negativity from them & for your existing teams.

Having participated in a RIF before, the two most common questions are 1) "why me?" and 2) "why my friend and not someone else?" Keeping someone who you've clearly said has no future around & asking them to contribute to the future of a company is ... what?