> Your best employees are the most likely to leave via attrition, because they have the most opportunity elsewhere.

But this remains true after a layoff and the layoff often acts a motivator for your best employees to start looking even if they weren't previously.

Usually they aren't thinking "well, glad I survived that layoff and now my job is safe forever", they are thinking "huh, is this a sinking ship? Maybe I should look around and see what else is out there..."

...speaking as someone that has been at several companies during layoffs...