Being fired is an unplanned event.  So the likelihood that someone who is fired is in a similar negotiating position as someone who leaves a company unannounced is highly unlikely.<p>Especially people with families.  When faced with the decision of &quot;either accept something at lower pay or risk your family starving or eating in soup kitchens&quot; I think the decision is obvious.<p>Then again they could wait 6 months or several years more for the perfect position.  One that pays similar salary, is in a similar location which will not require a relocation, and similar benefits so no additional out-of-pocket expenses for things like health insurance.  The higher up on the food chain you go the less likely you&#x27;ll fall into a comfortable situation.  And even lower on the food chain it&#x27;s not a certainty that things will work out.  It&#x27;s far less likely they&#x27;ll be in a position to negotiate.  Your first reaction will be &quot;first company to offer me something I&#x27;ll take&quot; because lower wage employees generally have far less saved away for situations like this.<p>So net outcome IMO will probably just end up being alot of people accepting less than ideal offers given their less than ideal negotiating position.<p>Also don&#x27;t forget that the dynamics of these situations in rural vs urban populations are going to be very different.  IMO you probably need to be in a city like New York or London for things to work out in a net-positive way for employees who are laid off.