[brookst]

Layoffs are expensive compared to making people miserable so they quit.

[runako]

Only if you pay severance/etc., which X doesn't.

[lotsofpulp]

Terminating employees without cause (i.e. due to employee’s poor performance) entitles the employer to unemployment benefits, causing the state to increase the business’s unemployment insurance premiums.

If an employee quits or is terminated due to not coming into work, then they are not eligible for unemployment benefits, and hence the business’s unemployment insurance premiums are unaffected.

[runako]

Increased UI premiums on the remaining employees are not likely to approach the cost of "normal" severance for 80%+ of the original staff.