[cnkeller]

It's usually not that black and white. It can also be "which of these employees is least likely to make the transition to where we are headed?"

About three months after I was hired at a company they reduced headcount by 25%. Even though I was one of the newest people there (though in terms of experience and salary I was more senior), management came to me and said that my experience and flexibility was going to be key in where they were headed post layoff and I wasn't going to be affected.

Long story short, it really depends. It's not always down to salary. Without getting into a lot of legalese (and every situation varies), when you do a layoff, you're eliminating the position and not looking to rehire, so you're generally not thinking about replacements. You're trying to figure out which staff is going to get you from here to wherever you decided you need to be.

[bbgm]

That's definitely been my experience as well, albeit at smaller outfits.