Some of the biggest technology industry players have announced mass layoffs in recent months. 

In most cases, companies aren't legally required to pay workers or offer benefits once their employment ends. But they're often motivated to do so to shield themselves from liability and to help defuse any hard feelings by tiding workers over while they search for new opportunities.

Many feel that severance is a very formal version of 'Don't go away mad, just go away others feel it is a reward for being loyal

You just got laid off from AT&T. What should you do next?

Many companies are considering how much they have to give you so that you go quietly, because when a person is laid off, this has an adverse effect on them. They try to soften that blow a little,

While the amount of severance a laid-off worker gets varies widely depending on the industry, company and the employee's tenure, exit packages tend to have some standard components.

Lets take a look at what to expect from a severance package when being laid off from AT&T.

What's in a severance package?

Severance packages vary most in the amount and duration of extra pay and benefits employees receive upon termination. The most variable part of a severance agreement is the amount and duration of extra pay and benefits a AT&T worker receives. 

Severance packages can include a mix of the following:

• Financial compensation

• Extension of health care and other benefits

• A portion of one's bonus

• Accelerated vesting of stock

• Outplacement assistance or career coaching

• ‘We are seeing commonalities in things people are getting, but not the durations   We'll see the extension of benefits beyond the termination date, but as far as what those values are it depends on the company. There is no standard.'

If your job loss is part of a mass layoff, the company is required by federal law to provide at least 60 days notice under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. Employees are entitled to full pay during the notification period; but in most other cases based on federal and state law, companies don't have to pay severance at all.

They can give nothing.

How Much Severance Do AT&T Employees Get After a Layoff?

There is no fixed severance amount for AT&T employees, and in most cases companies are not legally required to pay it. When a package is offered, it typically follows a formula of about one week of pay per year of service, and can include extended health coverage, a portion of your bonus, accelerated stock vesting, and outplacement help. If your job loss is part of a mass layoff, the federal WARN Act generally requires at least 60 days of notice with pay during that period. For more on recent workforce reductions, see our coverage of AT&T layoffs.

Are bonuses included in severance packages?

Performance-based bonuses are not always included in severance, though California law entitles workers to earned bonuses upon termination in most cases. A bonus that's not part of worker's base salary can also be very valuable, but isn't always included in severance packages. In California, performance-based bonuses are treated like wages — workers are legally entitled to earned bonuses when they are terminated. Other states have fewer protections in place. 'With bonuses, generally speaking, unless you're almost done with your planned year, I don't see people always giving a pro-rated portion. You generally lose that in its entirety,

There's room to negotiate, however, depending on how the bonus is earned. 'If the bonus is based on objective metrics that have been met, you can argue they it has been earned up to that point, and it may need to be paid off based on the wording of the bonus commission,

What is accelerated vesting in severance?

Tech workers often receive stock as compensation, which can be more valuable than salary and may be addressed in severance agreements. For tech workers, compensation can be complex, their severance packages typically are too. From small tech startups to giants like Google, stock in a company can be more valuable to a worker than salary.

'A lot of tech workers are really working for equity, stock options or equity grants, and these things vest over time,  'This is how most people who work for tech companies really make money. Whether you work for Google or a smaller tech company, you want a piece of the pie.'

In the case of a layoff, companies won't automatically accelerate the vesting of stock, in which case it disappears. But some will, including some of the large tech companies cutting their headcounts recently.

What did Google workers get?

Google employees dismissed in a 12,000-person layoff were paid during the required 60-day notification period under the WARN act. Ex-Google employees bemoan the way they were notified of layoff. Here are the latest tech layoffs as the industry shudders. When Google announced earlier this month that it would dismiss 12,000 employees, CEO Sundar Pichai told U.S. workers they would be paid during the 60-day notification period required under the WARN act.

The company checked other boxes, too.

Workers get a minimum of 16 weeks' salary, plus two weeks for every additional year at Google, as well as accelerated stock vesting. The company said it would also pay out workers' bonuses and unused vacation days. It also said it is extending workers health care benefits and offering job placement services for six months.

Microsoft, which on January 18 said it would cut 10,000 jobs, said benefits-eligible U.S. employees would be notified 60 days before their termination ends and receive an unspecified amount of 'above-market' severance pay, as well as six months of health care benefits, career transition assistance and stock vesting.

Can employees negotiate their severance packages?

Employees can request better severance terms, though large companies conducting mass layoffs typically do not make individual concessions. In some cases, it can't hurt to ask for a better exit package if you're unhappy with the offer, experts say. Keep in mind, though, that larger companies implementing mass layoffs are unlikely to make concessions on an individual basis.

Generally speaking, for a mass layoff at these huge tech companies, the exceptions are going to be few and far between because otherwise it opens the floodgates. Smaller companies are not setting such a huge precedent necessarily, so they might have more flexibility.

Larger companies are not likely to budge.

If your company decided to lay off 12,000 people, if they make a change for one guy, everyone is going to come clamoring but if it's just you getting laid off from AT&T, it is often worth trying to negotiate a better exit package, especially for a long-tenured employee.

Leverage goodwill you've earned over the course of your time at AT&T.

That window of time before a major decision is also when choices about AT&T's retirement benefits become harder to reverse. For job transitions, your employer's plan details deserve careful attention before you commit to a path.

Maintains a defined benefit pension plan (closed to most newer hires) plus a 401(k) plan. The 401(k) matches 80% of the first 6% of eligible pay (effective 4.8% match). Legacy employees may have traditional pension benefits based on years of service and final average pay. Pair those retirement details with your healthcare picture and you can see the full scope of what you're working with. Health plan premiums, HSA balances, retiree medical eligibility, and the cost of bridging to Medicare at 65 all feed into the same income plan that should drive your job transitions decisions.

The most common mistake is treating job transitions as a standalone decision without factoring in AT&T's plan. Once you see how the pieces fit together, the right path forward usually becomes clearer.