A buy out is not a lay off.
You offer it to people who would likely be leaving in the next couple of years. It’s a way to get high paid folks out of the way without having to lay people off.
Companies do this all the time.
All the time?
To the extent of nearly 20% of headcount?
That is far more than normal. (Maybe AI will be hired in their place./s)
I’ve had employees who only kept working because they were hoping for a buy out. That buy out could add thousands to their retirement funds.
As their boss, I was happy to help them with their buy outs. I successfully made the case for two of my people to get buy outs (it wasn’t an automatic thing).