From a hiring standpoint, I have both hired, and suggested for hire, people who had been previously layed off. Quality is as quality does. Sometimes strong talent just has to be let go. I've worked across a small variety of different industries. In some industries, layoffs are more common than in others. And for some, layoffs are just part of the gig. Being layed off does not carry an automatic stigma from my experiance.
I worked a sawmill for a few years (specialized towards the musical instrument industry, but doing a variety of other jobs as oppurtunities arose). Not long after hire I was managing the yard, kiln, and raw material aspects. And I did every job in the plant. Most of our core crew did so as well. We'd have moments of boom then bust. At times of boon we'd have to hire extra hands. Massive timber sales, fluctuating orders, large side jobs, and more. We'd hire a gang, put em to work, then eventually have to let them go. We had to let go some great workers whom I'd hire back in a heartbeat. We just didn't have the work to keep them on. And during really bad times, our core crew would rotate layoffs, to spread the pain equally so as to not lose any of the core before we boomed again. Near the end, shortly before the mill closed its doors for good, we were down to two 1/2 of us... the employee owner and myself, plus our moulder man a few hours a week. All the guys that had to go are people I'd seek out if starting my own venture. Talent. Heart. Commitment. The decisions were not easy as we slowly whittled down our workforce. They were all damn fine workers. It got to the point where I wanted to draw straws. They were all great.
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