It depends a lot. Usually, if you are a star, not only you're more expensive to start, but also more liable to look for greener pastures after a layoff. So, unl

It depends a lot. Usually, if you are a star, not only you're more expensive to start, but also more liable to look for greener pastures after a layoff. So, unless you've been at the company for a really long time, it is better to send you away, because it is likely that you won't stay too long after the layoffs. Also, there's the whole long-standing goal among managers to keep their head-counts as high as possible. Managers also don't want to become redundant, so, it makes sense to lay off the more expensive people as much as possible, to keep their headcounts high and avoid the unwelcome situation of having a team too small to justify their continued existence as managers. And, of course, for morale, it is better to convince anyone left that they were left because they are the stars, not because of their low likelihood of looking elsewhere.