[ivanche]

This is just grammatical nitpicking. People are not working in company X any more against their will. One can call it "removing", "laying off", "dismissing", "number cutting" or whatever corporate BS speak says is correct these days, but reality is that they're fired.

[mongol]

Not sure about nuances in English language but in Swedish there is a very important distinction. You are fired for stealing at work, hitting your manager or neglecting safety precautions etc. You are laid off for economical reasons, when the company can not afford to keep you around. The former reflects bad on you, the latter is not due to you. I think it is important to maintain the distinction.

[rags2riches]

So what should we call it when someone loses their job due to their own misconduct rather than budgets or whatever?

[squiggleblaz]

Usually "receiving a golden handshake"