> I've been through a 'silent layoff' at a startup, wherein most of the staff just stopped getting paid. We were funded by PE; the leadup to the separation was several weeks of accusations back and forth re: lying about available funds vs. mismanagement of granted funds. The company offered no severance and fought my unemployment claim. I was kind of relieved when it was over, but I would not recommend handling it this way unless you just don't care; it's been years but I still basically hate everyone involved.

This and a few other things really makes one not want to work for a startup again.