[duxup]

Did they 'have' to label employees as low performers?

Every layoff I've ever been in did not mention such things, often they were shift or role related ... not explicitly stated to be performance related. Sure there were the folks or two you knew were on the block first, but also others who worked on a dead product or so forth.

Seems like a strangely unnecessary thing to note.

[CurtHagenlocher]

Rules vary from state to state. But at least in Washington state, if you have "layoffs" then there are certain legal requirements that don't exist for "firings". One of them is that you can't hire someone for a substantially similar position for some period of time after the layoff. Facebook has specifically said that they want to replace the fired employees with new "higher quality" employees.

[goldenchrome]

If you’re doing a lot of layoffs but your company is doing well you need to give a clear reason to your existing employees so they can stay focused.

[duxup]

"low performer" seems like the most conflict heavy route to do that.