when a company has massive layoffs, presumably they keep their best employees That is not how it works. Firstly positions are made redundant, not people. If th

when a company has massive layoffs, presumably they keep their best employees That is not how it works. Firstly positions are made redundant, not people. If the company is closing the widget factory, it doesn’t matter who is the best or the worst widget-wrangler, those positions simply don’t exist anymore. Secondly you can’t hire wranglers just for the sake of it, you need demand for widgets in the market, and if there is such demand why did your competitor close the factory?