Employees working in non-critical areas of the company (departments within Shared Services such as Legal, IT, HR, Finance, PAC, etc) have volunteered for layoffs and have been successful in obtaining packages. May be worth asking about if you’re planning on leaving anyway.
Is this true? It would be great news for me if it was.
For the most part it's not true. It's cheaper for you to leave on your own and that's what they want to happen, so don't hold your breath waiting for a package.
Agree. Be careful. But it does happen.
I would be careful with this. If you tell the wrong person you want to volunteer to be laid off, it could be treated as a resignation and you'll be walked out on the spot without any severance. If you trust your PL, maybe make some round-about, non-direct, "exploratory" comments first and see how she/he responds.
I have heard some people claim they volunteered to be laid-off, but it's possible they are just saying that to save face. I have also heard of some people being asked in advance if they would mind being laid-off (people extremely close to retirement) but that's not quite the same thing as volunteering.
Where did you get this ? If this is true, I will be first in line.