The book Corporate Confidential talks about how this works in large companies. It states that, generally, people who get laid off are the ones who have clashes

The book Corporate Confidential talks about how this works in large companies. It states that, generally, people who get laid off are the ones who have clashes with the managers. They disagree too much, complain, gossip, etc. Has nothing to do with work performance. Always comes down to if your boss likes you. If your boss doesn't like you, you make a layoff list so the next time the company needs to downsize, you go away. Solves any issues of wrongful termination because many places are "at-will" anyway, and they can simply say "sorry, we have more people than we have work" and not ever tell you the reason why. I recommend that book highly. As I have seen the mistakes I've made over the years and have taken steps to correct that behavior. :)