Severance is a promise. We're building the structure underneath it.
CushionPay is a portable layoff safety net that employees build with their own post-tax payroll deductions — so the money is already there, in their name, before anyone has to negotiate for it.
A benefit the employee owns and the employer offers.
Employees opt in and set a post-tax deduction from each paycheck. Those funds are held in FDIC-insured accounts through banking partners, in the employee's name — never on CushionPay's balance sheet, and never on their employer's. When an involuntary termination is verified, the balance is released the same day.
The employer's side is a flat platform fee. Employers can also contribute to employee funds if they choose, but nothing requires it — there's no premium and no new balance-sheet liability, which is what makes it something a company can offer without underwriting an open-ended obligation.
Both sides carry the risk, and neither can plan for it.
An employee facing an involuntary exit has no dedicated reserve for it, and the employer has no predictable number to budget against — severance gets decided under time pressure, one case at a time, with legal exposure attached to every inconsistency. No standard benefit sits in that gap.
Fund it in advance, in the employee's own name.
A small post-tax deduction each pay cycle builds a cushion the employee owns and takes with them between jobs. The employer offers the benefit, pays a flat per-seat fee, and can add to employee funds if it chooses; the reserve itself is already funded and already assigned when the day comes.
Four conditions that weren't all true at once before.
Layoff protection has been an obvious idea for a long time. What changed is that every piece it depends on is now in place at the same time.
Workforce volatility
Involuntary separations arrive faster and with less warning than the benefits stack around them was designed for.
Severance under pressure
Severance is discretionary, negotiated case by case, and the first line reviewed when budgets tighten — which is exactly when employees need it.
Financial wellness expectations
Employees increasingly judge an offer on what protects them, not only on what pays them. Most financial wellness benefits stop short of job loss.
The plumbing finally exists
Payroll data, ACH rails and instant verification make a per-cycle contribution and a same-day release practical to run at scale.
The numbers behind it.
Every figure here comes from a public source, links to it, and states the period it covers.
Layoffs are routine, not rare
- 1.7M
layoffs and discharges in a single month — about 1.0% of all U.S. jobs.
July 2026 · Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, JOLTS
- 22%
of announced U.S. job cuts this year cited artificial intelligence — 116,175 of them.
Jan–Aug 2026 · Source: Challenger, Gray & Christmas
A job loss lasts, and the public backstop is thin
- 11.4 wks
is the median time an unemployed person has been looking for work.
August 2026 · Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, via FRED
- 29%
of unemployed people received unemployment insurance — and for those who did, it replaced 43% of their average weekly wage.
2023 · Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Most people aren't ready for it
- 59%
of employees say they're stressed about their finances.
January 2026 · Source: PwC 2026 Employee Financial Wellness Survey, reported by HR Dive
- 53%
of employees have less than $5,000 saved for emergencies; 30% have less than $1,000.
January 2026 · Source: PwC 2026 Employee Financial Wellness Survey, reported by HR Dive
- 63%
of U.S. adults would cover a $400 emergency expense using cash or its equivalent. The rest would have to find another way.
2025 · Source: Federal Reserve, Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households
Employees want it, and the law has noticed
- ~6 in 10
workers aged 25–64 say they'd likely enroll in a workplace emergency savings program if their employer offered one.
Published Feb 2026 · Source: AARP Public Policy Institute
- $2,500
is the cap on employee contributions to the emergency savings accounts SECURE 2.0 added to retirement plans — optional for employers, and closed to highly compensated employees.
SECURE 2.0, plan years from 2024 · Source: U.S. Department of Labor
A safety net that belongs to the person, not the payroll — one that follows them from job to job and is already funded on the day it's needed.
Portability is the point. A benefit that evaporates the moment employment ends isn't protection against losing employment. Ours is designed the other way round.
Questions, partnerships, or a pilot?
Model the cost for your own headcount, or write to us directly — we answer every enquiry.
hello@cushionpay.co