Ask HN: Accepted an offer from a company that is laying off

A month ago I accepted an offer (contract is signed) by an European company that recently has announced that is laying off x% of their staff (the announcement has hit the HN front page recently). I haven’t started to work them yet (I start in August). They have told me that I should not worry about my future position since the contract is signed. Even if what they told me is true, I don’t feel like I want to work there anymore for obvious reasons (I guess more layoffs are around the corner… and I guess recent hires would be the easiest ones to fire).

Have you been in a similar situation? I don’t know what would be the best move for me: either I start looking for another job (I’m coming from a break of around 5 months because of health issues) and reject reject working for them, or I continue with them and see what happens.

My contract doesn’t say what happens if I “reject” working for them even if the contract is signed (can they sue me?). It doesn’t specify either what happens if they tell me that they cannot afford a new hire.

When companies do lay offs, what’s “easier” for them? Fire hired people or reject people who hasn’t started yet but have a signed contract?