Disclaimer: I am NOT advocating for layoffs, I do agree with their cruel nature. However, this comment in the article is ignorant:"Sure, except presumably at-wi

Disclaimer: I am NOT advocating for layoffs, I do agree with their cruel nature. However, this comment in the article is ignorant:"Sure, except presumably at-will employers could have done that at any time if they had hard data that suggested this pool of employees weren't working out." Here is why. Just because someone is at-will doesnt mean the manager has the power to fire someone without any repercussions. Management can be a political house of cards and "layoffs" is a safe blanket to wipe these people out. case 1: Another deadweight case is to rip through the relational bias. Fred is a very nice guy and he does an OK job, but could the market provide someone else cheaper and/or better than fred? since hes not excelling lets roll the dice and find out. Fred wouldnt normally get let go because hes doing just the bare minimum to get by and there is no case for such a thing. case 2: manager is incompetent(say it aint so!) and is hiring the wrong people. What a mess! how do you deal with that?! Time to clean up the whole department and start fresh. The obvious downside of layoffs is that all too often, talented, loyal, and undeserving people get caught up in the mix, but at least management "feels terrible about it"