Pros of getting laid off: severance package, opportunity to buy COBRA and maintain health insurance for up to the time allowed. Collect unemployment.
Cons: many people competing for few jobs.
Pros of jumping ship: get ahead of the job hunting swell.
Cons: depending on how long you've been employed, you could lose up to several months work of severance.
Good list for those on the fence. Posted by @11qTlxCx-bfw.
The intent of my post was for those who were looking to jump ship, either before the RIF or to wait it out and see. Of time planning to jump ship, ask that your name be put to the front of the list. They may or may not oblige. But nothing like an aluminum parachute of you are going to leave anyway and can get it.
There are no pros to getting laid off. That is, unless you were just too lazy to be busy about looking for work somewhere else, without that motivation. If your intention was to stay working, you should have been scrambling from the moment the RIF was announced. Never EVER believe what they tell you. There's a technique to mitigating the disruption, while doing the dirty deed.
I'm not an advocate of worrying, so it's good advice. But not worrying doesn't mean that you put your head in the sand, or assume the best. It just means that you don't let the situation overwhelm you, while you take necessary precautions to guard yourself.