The semantics are so ridiculous.
Back in my first layoff, it was a situation where there were 3 papers in a chain. We were No. 2 in circulation of the three, but No. 3 was very well-read, though in a smaller community. At the time, I was laying out papers 2 and 3. There was a prep editor at No. 2.
The layoff process began, and I got whacked, being told that my job was eliminated. OK, that meant you're eliminating the job of laying out two papers a night. Uh, no. Bullshirt. They still had to have somebody do that.
The prep editor at No. 2 was unhappy and wanted to leave. When the layoffs started, he told the editor he wanted leave, so please lay him off in order to save someone else's job. The editor stammered, and told him he was on the layoff list. They had eliminated his job. No prep editor? Bullshirt. Semantics.
They can do whatever they want and call it whatever they want.
Side note: I knew Mark Alesia very well when he worked at the L.A. Daily News. We were neighbors, in fact. He has been a force in investigative journalism for more than 25 years. I hope it wanted to leave and did so on his own terms.