Well yes, the actual best approach for the wellbeing of employee is to combine these two moves. Give employees the choice between taking a voluntary severance package or coming back to the office. Make it known that a round of layoffs is possible depending on the number of people who take the severance. That way no one is misled into moving and the company doesn't have to be as concerned with the distribution of people who refuse to work in the office.
And let's be honest, Musk isn't doing it in this order for the wellbeing of Twitter's employees.
And let's be honest, Musk isn't doing it in this order for the wellbeing of Twitter's employees.