Tick Tock Man
Another problem with the "last in, first out", is that some of the older staff can be very reluctant vote for new temporary agreements, only because they know they won't get laid off... So where a time/salery reduction would've kept everyone working, albeit less with equally less payment, they'd rather see colleagues get fired.
Often you'd end up hearing arguments where the employee has completely forgotten that he is actually that... an employee.... who is working because the employer needs him.
Sure, technically the companies can just fire the whole bunch, and then re-hire the ones they want again.
Now I'm not against rights for employees etc, but the situation is a bit special, and the only way to help getting through it, would be to move in close with management and figure out what to do (if we want to keep everyone working).