> Another reason for these kind of moves is to shed workforce without going through layoffs. People with higher salaries, mortgages, houses, family will choose to resign instead relocating to TN perhaps, while new college grads, with lower salaries might be more willing to move.

I hear stuff like that a lot. But that seems like the dumbest, most passive-aggressive move ever (though I'm not denying executives can be stupid). As many have noted, it's a great way to filter out your top performers and keep all the low performers.