Comment by fasa99
I agree. My understanding of layoffs is you're closing out the role, and thus, the person holding the role loses it. This is separate from the actual performance of said person. Conversely, for a poor performer, you're cutting off the person but intend to refill the role with a better one.
Going from 10 people on a team to 8 and not planning to re-hire back up to 10 is also closing out roles.