Super simplified: Firing is when the reason for the employee leaving is their fault. Layoff is when it's "the employers fault" (e.g. overstaffing etc).
That said, this article gives zero indication this is a firing, so I expect that your parent's comment is someone who is salty at Twilio and wants to make this sound "more vicious" -- 'firing' someone is a harsher sound than 'laying them off'. Plus, there's VERY few examples ever of significant staff cuts happened with _firings_. That would imply that 17% of Twilio did something so egregious at work that they got fired all simultaneously, which, like...how?
> Firing is when the reason for the employee leaving is their fault. Layoff is when it's "the employers fault".
That's not how I'd use those words. "Fired" just means your employment was involuntarily terminated. Layoffs are a type of firing, at least to my ears.
I suspect in some states, it might have implications for collecting unemployment. But given how almost all long term employment is "at will", there isn't really any meaningful distinction, except colloquially, I suspect.
That said, this article gives zero indication this is a firing, so I expect that your parent's comment is someone who is salty at Twilio and wants to make this sound "more vicious" -- 'firing' someone is a harsher sound than 'laying them off'. Plus, there's VERY few examples ever of significant staff cuts happened with _firings_. That would imply that 17% of Twilio did something so egregious at work that they got fired all simultaneously, which, like...how?