[bluGill]

fire (as opposed to lay off) is something companies avoid - if you don't show good cause to fire someone they can sue you for wrongful dismissal. If a company has reason to fire you they will often tell you verbally to quit or they will fire you - quit meaning that you did it of your own will. If this ever happens to you consider carefully taking their offer - you can't quit, but when someone asks they will say you left in good standing which looks better than being told you were fired for cause (but of course you can't sue them anymore as you quit)

Layoff is what a company wants to do, but they need to do at least something to show the layoff was random. They can't just lay off one person who is bad, they need to get rid of a lot of people.