Call a layoff what it is. It's public knowledge that revenue is down profits are down and headcount is going down. Saying recent offboarding was "performance-based" or “we had lofty expectations for this role” is total BS because you fired high performers. If it's a layoff, just call it what it is so people aren't scrambling to "perform higher" when things are naturally slow in a recession. Layoffs happen all the time. Makes management look cowardly to not admit that, and give half-baked reasons when you get a surprise call Thursday call.