I've seen this mindset but for a different reason. While buyouts are supposed to get rid of the lower performers, it often doesn't work that way. If the offer

I've seen this mindset but for a different reason. While buyouts are supposed to get rid of the lower performers, it often doesn't work that way. If the offers go to everyone, many of the best qualified people know they can a) get a job quickly and b) are looking at N months of paid vacation/extra pay, so they jump. Even worse, they know who the good people are so when they land the new job and need to recruit, they know who to target. A decade+ ago, I was at a company and we were made offers. I was on the fence but decided to watch three specific people I deeply respected. When two of them left, I was next. The third was a few days later. In under 4 months, almost the entire tech staff turned over and many of us have worked together since.