[nfriedly]

I agree with you in general, but wanted to point out that layoffs are often related to the companies overall performance and direction. So it's not uncommon for layoffs to have very little correlation with the performance of any individual affected employee.

[0cf8612b2e1e]

Furthermore, they are usually top down directives: you need to cut X% of your staff across all groups. The axe needs to swing somewhere. As layoffs have usually been preceded by hiring freezes, managers have to make some calls. Alice is great, but not a unique skill set. Bob is not that good, but he is the only person who can maintain the FooBar system.