[kyrra]

I was let go once (been full time dev since 2004). It was when a company was getting ready for a buyout and closed 3 satellite offices one day. Our office was around 50 people and most people were let go indiscriminately.

This same company 2 years prior laid off a friend because his manager didn't like him (his manager was laid off a year after this because he was generally bad at his job). A bunch of people realized this mistake within a two days and they offered him 2 options (termination here was immediate, so he was already gone from the office). He could just leave as was the current course, or they would keep him on for 6 months so he could do some critical work that he was best to handle. He decided to stay for the 6 months and still got the severance package initially offered.