[ARobotics]

Add me to your other reality too. I have never heard of anyone being judged negatively for being laid off. Just about everyone understands that there may be great people laid off when an entire division/product/org gets cut or a company shrinks substantially.

If you're referencing the same article(s) I've read recently, it wasn't "if you don't currently have a job, don't bother applying" it was "if someone has been unemployed for over a year, there is probably a reason". It wasn't a negative judgment on being laid off, it was making the assumption that a long period of unemployment was a signal that the person may not be very hard working or talented or whatever, and with many candidates to choose from that signal could be a deciding factor.