[planteen]

From big companies? Which ones? And my limited understanding of labor law is that Massachusetts has more regulation on this sort of thing than most states.

Read https://www.thelayoff.com and typically any big companies layoff discussion will mention the severance package being offered.

https://www.thelayoff.com/t/Plt3gwU

[lovich]

I never experienced mass layoffs, just a slow removal of employees. Either outright firing, but one at a time, or some aspect of the job was changed abruptly and in a manner that garunteed people would leave. Those positions then wouldn't be backfilled. It's not doable on a scale of 1000s but it was doable on a scale of 30-40