Got'cha. What's to keep them from making it an INVOLUNTARY lay-off if you don't volunteer? Was the email just sent to you? Or was it a company wide email simply asking for volunteers?

I had one'a those once. It basically boiled down to: "Do you wanna resign, or do you want us to fire you?" I made 'em fire me so I could collect unemployment.

Long story, but I couldn't grab my shit fast enough to get out'ta there! (it was a change of upper-management sort'a thing and they cleaned house when they came in ... I knew it was coming as I already knew who my replacement was).