"Companies in this economy are letting their employees go with little notice. Within hours of the decision, axed staffers are told to clean out their desks and are escorted off the premises. The last straw: They're getting no outplacement and minimal severance."

Company reputation is critical, says Crispin's CareerXroads partner, Mark Mehler. Alluding to companies that flub layoffs and stiff workers on severance, Mehler says: "The long-term choices of a new generation of employees reluctant to return to corporate life will hurt stockholders and employers for years to come. In the meantime, survivors will tell recruiters the names and contact info for the best people who have left, as well as the best that remain. And survivors will be more likely to jump at the first opportunity."

TRENDS. Unhappily for workers, the downsizing occurring as the economy sags is also producing a downsizing in what companies are willing to pay outgoing employees. The "standard" severance of one or two weeks' pay for each year an employee has worked, often capped at 26 or 52 weeks, is becoming less standard as tough times roll on.

Severance plans are being customized based on level of responsibility, according to a 2007 survey by WorldatWork, an association of HR professionals. One level applies to CEOs, another to senior executives, yet another to the rest of the staff.

Moreover, a new study by Right Management, a jobs counseling firm, finds that U.S. severance packages are the lowest in the world. You read that right. The study discovered that top U.S. executives earned as little as 2.76 weeks of severance per year of service compared with an average 3.39 weeks per year of service for 27 other countries. (Visit WorldatWork.org; search for "severance." Also visit Right.com; click on About, then on News Room, then on Press Releases.)

LAWYERING UP. Scared? Search out lawyers who are experienced in representing employees in severance issues. Search online for severance lawyers and also check with your local bar association. Ask for a free consultation before signing on for legal representation.