They aren't laying off people, it was a voluntary separation: > Verizon Communications Inc said on Monday that about 10,400 employees will be leaving the U.S. wireless carrier by mid next year as part of the company’s voluntary separation program. They offered a package earlier in the year https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/25/verizon-offers-separation-pl...
They aren't laying off people, it was a voluntary separation It's just another layer of corporate double-speak. The same way "fired" became "laid off." Until the early 90's, "laid off" applied to factory and seasonal workers, who were expected to be recalled when production ramped up again.
Fired and laid-off are not synonyms. Fired and terminated are synonymous. However, laid off generally means the position is not continuing.
That being said, "voluntary separation" just means they are anticipating a large layoff and are attempting to reduce the overhead of determining who to let go.