[segasaturn]

They're not doing "voluntary exits" out of the goodness of their hearts, they're doing it because their accountants determined that the cost of paying employees to quit outweighed the reputational damage of doing another round of mass layoffs.

[vineyardmike]

Of course! But it’s better than randomly laying people off. At least it lets people who are ready to quit take the accounting impact instead of others.

Layoffs cause huge emotional trauma to people who are affected. People often slide into serious mental health issues, financial issues, etc. Often people get laid off while their peers were eyeing the door. This at least allows people to quit and take the heat off their coworkers.

[learningstud]

Or, the accountants determined that the overall cost of voluntary exits is expected to be lower than a mass layoff. It's possible that voluntary exits make more financial sense.