The layoffs I've experienced have ranged in appropriate-ness...one company-wide layoff and the resulting fallout was worthy of a "Dallas" or "Dynasty" episode. Remind me to tell that story sometime. The "easy" layoffs were in the smaller retail companies or newspaper that I worked at; quite straightforward, and actually, not surprising at all, or really upsetting. Things only started getting bizarre once I started working in corporations. One involved a process similar to Dina's and Kathy's, except that literally months of rumours and non-productivity led up the final meeting. At that point, I was pretty happy to be laid off. But then, people discovered the company had incorrectly filled out the Termination forms for Revenue Canada...they marked the code that the employee quit, not that they were laid off.
At the next company I worked at, the layoff came a week after I had already handed in my resignation, but I was told to attend the staff meeting anyway. The company president basically blasted the former president, said he was fed up with wasting his money, had gotten no return on his investment and basically, he was shutting down the company and therefore every single employee was terminated, effective immediately. Bam, about 100 people gone, just like that. (He was ok, because his company owned the company he was shutting down.) The shock was horrible to watch on people's faces. There was a bit of enlightenment too: just before the meeting, the system was acting up...no one thought much of it, but once the termination was announced, another announcement: everyone was to get their belongings and return immediately to the boardroom to get their cheque (not company cheques, mind you, but non-addressed personal account cheques - that didn't go over well with the bank, we had to return and get them stamped by the office manager - who was in a really bad mood) and leave the premises immediately...no one was allowed to touch their computers (but they were all locked down anyway by system adminstrators during the meeting (they were the only ones not laid off - yet), which was what was happening when the meeting was called.) Needless to say, they didn't add that yes, everything you had worked on up until then was lost to you.

Anyway, I agree with Kathy's assessment (and my gawd, that CDS thing...awful, awful, awful, and actually wrong maybe?...what would the labour board say to that, I wonder?). And boy, God help you if you protest. Off the top of my head, they could also have told the individuals being laid off at the end of the day (e.g., supervisors tell the employees), and then, since it was such a big layoff, hold a meeting the following morning for all remaining employees to address the issue. I don't think it's realistic anymore to feel secure in corporations, especially software companies (though I guess the reality is that you can expect varying levels of security?). Especially these days. At the very least, always stay one step ahead, and keep money in the bank if you can. And yes, look out for number one - you. No matter what they say, there's always that bottom line. And don't lose perspective. And don't take it personally.