Maybe still not a secret, but the dirty part in some companies is that if there are layoffs, they'll lay off the people who are paid the highest and keep the people that they trained.
So if you get laid off, it is probably a favor.
1) Bad contractors, 2) Bad employees, 3) Good contractors, 4) Good employees with Mgt going along the way from bottom to top. Pay doesn't usually seem to be the deciding influence except within the groups.
One of the places I've seen do it the best first moved the few good people off of the worst teams and then just got rid of entire teams at a time.