[Shank]

Well, some percentage of people won't accept the buyout. It's not as if it's just free money -- it's free money for the stress and anxiety associated with being jobless. I'm sure they have a good idea of the number of people that they project will leave based on this, and they can always counteroffer if it turns out that more people than they expect will quit. The upshot to this over layoffs is that people can self-select. If 10-20% leave that's probably well within expectations.

[chii]

i wonder if these buyouts are more or less expensive than severance packages.

If you know your severance would be higher than the buyout, why would you accept? If the buyout is higher than severance, then the company is "losing" money doing the buyout isn't it? I suppose keeping good reputation/PR is worth something...

[lotsofpulp]

Unless there is a union agreement for severance, there is no need for a business to offer severance.